Low pay was blamed as the reason why about 50 percent of social workers gave up their jobs last year, triggering plans to improve the situation, said the Beijing Social Work Committee.

It said relevant policies and documents will be released soon to address the issue.

Last year, the Beijing Social Work Committee launched pilot projects within 600 social communities. The committee recruited 1,984 graduates to serve as social workers on those pilot projects. Of them, around one-third held either a master's or doctoral degree.