SHANGHAI, July 10 -- THE city's first career-training program for jobless young people and their parents is open for business in Wujiaochang area of Yangpu District.

Officials said yesterday the free initiative will target unemployed people under the age of 30 and their parents to offer them up-to-date job-seeking information and teach them application skills on a monthly basis.

"Different from ordinary career consultation for young people, this program is designed to inform parents about the latest job-market developments and encourage parents to help solve their children's unemployment problems," said Shen Lixia, a community official and the program initiator.

Shen said that the idea of parent education came after she found out how important a role that Chinese parents play in their children's job-seeking process.

At a job fair that the community held earlier this year, about 30 percent of young unemployed people had their parents looking for positions and talking with recruiters instead of themselves.

Parents of a 28-year-old woman, who had just found a supermarket cashier's job after five years of unemployment, even complained that the position was too hard for their daughter.

And some parents nag their jobless children daily, comparing them unfavorably with their peers.

Wang Meiping, a professional career consultant at the Hongkou District Job Placement Center, said they can understand parents trying to protect their only child.

"But excessive intervention or blame can hurt children's confidence and hamper their job seeking," said Wang, who was invited to give the first lecture to more than 20 young people and their parents on Sunday.

Program officials will keep track of attendees and expand the program.