China’s job market is facing unprecedented challenges as a record-breaking 12.22 million university graduates enter the workforce this year. The fierce competition for limited job openings has led to intense interview processes, with some internship positions requiring up to five rounds of assessments. Many graduates, like Milan from Shenzhen, have resorted to accumulating internship experience from their freshman year to gain a competitive edge.
However, not all graduates are as fortunate. Wu, an architecture major from Chongqing, struggled to find a job in his field and was ultimately sent by his university to work in a factory through a partnership program. The employment rate for Chinese university graduates has dropped from 57.6% to 55.5%, according to a report by Zhaopin Recruitment.
China’s graduate job market struggles
The government has introduced various policies to address the issue, such as expanding employment and entrepreneurship channels, strengthening labor rights protections, and implementing job creation plans in small and medium-sized enterprises. Despite these efforts, many graduates feel that the policies fail to meet real-world demands.
Some argue that the government should focus on growing the economy and increasing job openings to provide young people with more career choices. Experts believe that job shortages remain the root cause of the employment crisis. Fang Congyan, an assistant research fellow at the Institute for Chinese Communist Party Political-Military and Operational Concepts, stated, “The phrase ‘graduation means unemployment’ is now a very accurate description of China’s job market for fresh graduates.
The government is desperately trying to lower the unemployment rate, but these measures don’t address the root problem.
As the number of graduates continues to rise each year, it becomes increasingly clear that employment policies alone cannot resolve the urgent crisis. Economic recovery and growth are crucial to creating more job opportunities and alleviating the pressure on China’s young workforce.
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