SHANGHAI: Zhao Bin, a 22-year-old industrial design major, has given up hopes of landing a permanent job in the country's financial hub. The lack of openings in the wake of the global meltdown has frustrated him.

Instead, Zhao is now occupying his time designing the logo for a shoe-manufacturing company in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

Though the job is part-time, and the money nothing worth writing home about, the Shanghai resident said it was still better than sitting idle.