Note: This picture is made by Midjourney AI.
Job Market:
How Unemployment Shape Spending Power
April 2024
From Caps and Gowns to Job Hunts: China Graduates’ Woes
​
Xiao Yao, a 22-year-old English major student at Beijing International Studies University, is on the verge of graduating in June this year. She has four different internship experiences in various professions, including media operations, exhibition assistant, and video editing.
Her first choice for jobs was those in the media and technology companies. However, despite sending out dozens of resumes, she still hasn't received any interview opportunities after she has tried for 3 months.
"Beijing is saturated with talented individuals, making it truly challenging for someone like me, with my background and qualifications, to secure a desirable job," Xiao said.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Education, the projected scale of Chinese university graduates in 2024 is expected to reach 11.79 million, an increase of 210,000 compared to the previous year.
In 2023, the unemployment rate among the age group of 16 to 24 continued to rise for six consecutive months, reaching a record-breaking 21.3% in June. One month later, the government announced the suspension of data publication, stating that the statistical methodology for this information "requires further refinement and optimization."
Later, the revised and republished data released in January 2024 showed that the youth unemployment rate in China reached 14.9%, with the new statistical method excluding the students who are currently enrolled in educational institutions.
In the face of a COVID-19-impacted economy over the past three years and a slow recovery in the current situation, Beijing has encountered difficulties in its endeavors to generate an adequate number of jobs, considering them vital for maintaining both economic growth and social stability.
This includes the growing challenge for college graduates to secure their desired jobs in the employment market, as well as the well-known glass ceiling that middle-aged individuals face at the age of 35.
"Every year, the number of new college graduates we have is reaching new high levels, like a decade ago, the employment pressure was lower because the annual scale of graduates was only three to four million, but now it exceeds ten million,” said Chen Jianwei, an associate researcher with the Institute of Education and Economy Research at the University of International Business and Economics.
​
“It is difficult for any society to absorb over ten million graduates entering the job market within a single year."
Chen stated that one of the major factors contributing to the employment difficulties of graduates is the current economic downturn, which fails to drive job growth. Additionally, private sector investments remain low, resulting in fewer entrepreneurial endeavors and consequently creating fewer job opportunities.
As a result, many college graduates opt to pursue further education, apply to work in government departments, or switch to industries where jobs are relatively easier to find.
​
According to the data from the Ministry of Education, the number of registrations for the national postgraduate entrance examination in 2024 stands at 4.38 million, indicating a decrease of 360,000 compared to the 4.74 million registrations in 2023. This is the first decline in postgraduate exam applicants in eight years since 2015.
While the trend turns to the national civil servant exam, where in 2024 registrations exceeded 3 million for the first time, with an average of approximately 77 candidates competing for each job position.
Xiao eventually chose to join a training institution as an English teacher.
"After going through internships and the recruitment process, I carefully analyzed which role would be most suitable for me, and I came to the conclusion that being a teacher is the best fit, considering both my undergraduate major and my skills," Xiao said.
Chen pointed out that China is currently undergoing an industrial transition, especially with the emergence of information and communication technology, digital economy, and artificial intelligence, which has led to structural employment challenges.
"For instance, the demand for emerging fields like structural engineers or algorithm engineers cannot be fulfilled by the current pool of college graduates," Professor Chen explained.
Meanwhile, some experts expressed fewer concerns regarding the employment prospects of young people.
“I didn't see anything really serious happening there. People just become picky nowadays,” said Wei Li-qun, Professor of Management at the School of Business at Hong Kong Baptist University. “The parents always want the kids to find a high salary, an easy job with a good reputation.”
“Everybody wants to go to Microsoft or Apple, but is it possible? No way, right?”
Midlife’s Financial Crisis: refraining from coffee and enjoying free wi-fi at coffee shops
​
While the focus of attention is often on China's persistently high youth unemployment rate, middle-aged individuals in the country face their own set of challenges. Despite a higher employment rate compared to the younger generation, they grapple with the pressures of supporting both elderly parents and young children.
Jane Ji, 48, works at a foreign pharmaceutical company in Shenyang, the capital of the northeastern Liaoning province. A month ago, she was demoted due to the company's consolidation of offices in the northern region.
"I had planned to make a fresh start with my team once the pandemic was over, but I never expected to be demoted so quickly," she said.
After the demotion, Ji also attempted to seek job opportunities in other companies through headhunters. However, she faced rejections primarily based on her age.
In China, middle-aged individuals encounter the well-known “35-year-old ceiling”, which is a formidable obstacle to their career prospects. The challenges they face have not diminished even after the pandemic.
According to a 2023 report released by China's recruitment website, Zhaopin, in May of last year, 85% of white-collar workers believe in the "35-year-old ceiling," with 46.8% acknowledging the difficulty of finding employment after surpassing the age of 35.
The survey also highlighted that people in the internet, finance, and cultural sectors express greater concerns about the "35-year-old ceiling." Among the respondents from the IT, communications, electronics, and internet industries, 52.9% believed that finding a job becomes challenging after crossing this age, which is a higher percentage compared to other sectors.
The trend of middle-aged unemployed individuals congregating at coffee shops in China has gained traction on social media. They use free Wi-Fi, charge their laptops, and enjoy the air conditioning, while often refraining from buying a cup of coffee which usually costs 33 yuan for a grande cup of Cappuccino at Starbucks.
Companies still want to recruit middle-aged people, but they typically require relevant work experience or a certain existing customer base, said Wang Chenxu, a headhunter based in Shenyang.
"I think the primary reasons for the difficulties middle-aged individuals face in finding jobs are, firstly, they expect a higher salary and companies find it hard to manage them, and secondly, if their job skills are just average, companies tend to choose training a young person from scratch," he added.
"I can comprehend the circumstances of my demotion. The economy is currently not performing well, and layoffs are happening across industries. Additionally, being close to 50 years old, I acknowledge that my ability to learn new things may not be as strong as that of younger individuals," Ji said.
Currently, Ji has been reassigned to work in Chengdu, which means she will be separated from her family in Shenyang for an extended period. Nevertheless, she persists in her career.
In the face of rapid industry transformation nowadays, experts’s advice for middle-aged individuals is to embrace lifelong learning.
“In today's world, you can actually learn anything through the internet. A lot of social media, a lot of free education, so continuing education and gaining knowledge of the future is a way to make changes,” said Yuan Wai Kee, Assistant Professor of Economics and Finance at Hong Kong Shue Yan University.
“So whatever age, you need to keep on working and have knowledge about what is going to happen in the future,” Yuan added.
What prospect holds for China’s economy
​
Despite headwinds of shrinking consumption power, property downturn and difficult job market, experts generally hold a positive attitude toward the future of the country’s economy.
“Chinese already get used to a faster and continuous increase in the economy. For every increase, if you say unstable, they feel unsatisfied,” said Professor Wei.
“If you look at Europe or the U.S., they always maintain stability with slight increases maybe around 0.1 or 0.2 percent, and they consider it normal. But for us, it has become the norm to have growth rates of 6, 7, or even 8 percent over the past 40 years,” she added.
Wei thinks that achieving such high growth rates comes at a cost, and certain sacrifices need to be made. So it's not necessary to maintain such rapid increases in all aspects.
“Currently, in the post-pandemic period, we may face some challenges, but I don't believe they are severe enough to cause excessive worry. Comparatively speaking, if we look at other parts of the world, we are in a good enough position.”
Professor Chong believes that China is currently in a period of transition where the economy is shifting from an export-oriented model to a consumption-driven model.
“First, you need to make people rich, right?” said Chong. “And by rich, I mean not just limited to major cities like Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen, we need to have an equal share of the different regions so that the general consumption will rise.”
And the second is we have to make sure that when people have money, they will consume. Nowadays people don’t feel safe about money and feel uncertain about the future, so having related policy protection like retirement schemes is also very important. he added.
“China is still an emerging economy, and in many aspects, we're not perfect. We need time to develop one step by the other,” said Wei.