https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Chi...1&pub_date=20220714190000&seq_num=20&si=44594
Chinese university students attend a graduation ceremony in Wuhan. A record 10.76 million college students are expected to enter China's battered job market this year. ©AP CISSY ZHOU, CK TAN, Nikkei staff writersJuly 14, 2022 17:50 JST
HONG KONG/SHANGHAI -- With a top university degree in hand, Mia Li had dreams of turning her internship at a Chinese tech company into a permanent job -- until her employer started firing staff.
"Big tech companies used to recruit from colleges in the spring. But every one of them is laying off staff this year," she told Nikkei Asia. "I started to panic and worried that I wouldn't be able to find a job."
Desperate, the 22-year-old cut her salary expectations and eventually found a position in the southern city of Guangzhou. It is not her dream job, but Li may be one of the lucky ones.
China's youth unemployment rate is running at more than 18%, about three times the official urban jobless rate and the highest level on record for job seekers aged 16 to 24.
At the same time, a record 10.76 million college graduates are entering one of China's worst job markets in decades, as the economy reels from the government's strict zero-COVID policy, a slumping property market and a regulatory crackdown on the key technology sector.
Leading tech groups like Tencent and Alibaba, once key pipelines for job-hungry grads, are cutting staff by the tens of thousands. Neither company replied to a request for comment on the layoffs.
Even those with jobs are looking around nervously as companies announce new cuts all the time.
"This is so scary," said an employee at a tech company where some divisions were cut in half. "The announcements came out of the blue. Some employees were asked to leave immediately after they were notified."
To deal with rising unemployment, Beijing is scrambling to offer incentives and subsidies to companies that will keep staff on the payroll during a politically sensitive year, as President Xi Jinping vies for an unprecedented third term.
Many college students graduating this year were born around the year 2000, when the economy was humming along with annual growth of 8.5%. By the Chinese calendar, it was the year of the Dragon -- a time of prosperity.
But the picture for new grads is anything but prosperous these days, after the government's unrelenting bid to stamp out COVID-19 outbreaks saw lockdowns in major cities, including the financial capital, Shanghai, dealing a blow to the world's No. 2 economy. The measures have also stoked an unusual level of public anger.
"Businesses are likely expecting weak domestic and external demand for an extended period, and will remain conservative in hiring and retaining employees," BofA Securities said in a June report, adding that youth unemployment could hit 23% in July and August. "Labor market challenges this year could be greater than those [early in the pandemic], given the absence of a clear end to the economic downturn and little likelihood of a rapid or robust rebound."
While there are signs of a recovery in the second half of the year, a Nikkei survey of several dozen economists found that they expected growth to slow to 4.1% in 2022, well short of the government's 5.5% target.
The tepid outlook is no surprise to Amy Tan, a job recruiter based in Guangzhou.
"The job market is especially sluggish due to COVID prevention measures," she said. "Companies aren't hiring because their sales have been affected."
Job seekers attend a career fair in Wuhan in March last year. Youth unemployment in China is running at record levels. © AFP/Jiji
Desperate job seekers are slashing salary expectations, while some are feeling the heat from disappointed parents who can't understand why their kids are not scooping up jobs.
"I've got no job and live at home," said one 22-year-old grad on popular social media platform Xiaohongshu. "My parents are giving me the cold shoulder for not going to work. ... I feel so anxious and confused about my future."
Another unemployed grad wrote: "My mother can't see that I'm so worried. Every day she says the only thing I know how to do is eat. ... [She says] I'm not thinking about the future and accuses me of being incompetent. ... But I'm trying my best."
The lack of prospects has pushed some new grads to apply for work at state-owned companies -- rarely a top choice in the past for young job seekers But more stable employers are becoming favorites for many, with nearly 45% of younger people currently looking for work eyeing state-owned companies, according to Chinese online recruiter Zhilian.
"This reflects a preference for stability among this year's job-seekers," it said in a report. "It may also be linked to state-owned enterprises dishing out more job opportunities to cushion the impact of the pandemic."
Others are holding off entering the gloomy job market altogether. Instead of leaving gaps in their resumes, some students are opting to stay in school by enrolling in master's programs or studying abroad. But even that is not a guaranteed solution.
The competition to get into advanced degree programs has become "fierce," according to a college supervisor responsible for career counseling at a leading Beijing university.
Fearful of being laid off, one of the supervisor's students broke a contract with Alibaba and instead joined China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, she added.
"The pandemic has greatly affected the job market," the supervisor, who asked not to be named, told Nikkei. "And the students know that well."
Additional reporting by Peggy Ye in Hong Kong.
China's college grads despair over worst job market in decades
Youth unemployment hits record levels in COVID-hit economy
Chinese university students attend a graduation ceremony in Wuhan. A record 10.76 million college students are expected to enter China's battered job market this year. ©AP CISSY ZHOU, CK TAN, Nikkei staff writersJuly 14, 2022 17:50 JST
HONG KONG/SHANGHAI -- With a top university degree in hand, Mia Li had dreams of turning her internship at a Chinese tech company into a permanent job -- until her employer started firing staff.
"Big tech companies used to recruit from colleges in the spring. But every one of them is laying off staff this year," she told Nikkei Asia. "I started to panic and worried that I wouldn't be able to find a job."
Desperate, the 22-year-old cut her salary expectations and eventually found a position in the southern city of Guangzhou. It is not her dream job, but Li may be one of the lucky ones.
China's youth unemployment rate is running at more than 18%, about three times the official urban jobless rate and the highest level on record for job seekers aged 16 to 24.
At the same time, a record 10.76 million college graduates are entering one of China's worst job markets in decades, as the economy reels from the government's strict zero-COVID policy, a slumping property market and a regulatory crackdown on the key technology sector.
Leading tech groups like Tencent and Alibaba, once key pipelines for job-hungry grads, are cutting staff by the tens of thousands. Neither company replied to a request for comment on the layoffs.
Even those with jobs are looking around nervously as companies announce new cuts all the time.
"This is so scary," said an employee at a tech company where some divisions were cut in half. "The announcements came out of the blue. Some employees were asked to leave immediately after they were notified."
To deal with rising unemployment, Beijing is scrambling to offer incentives and subsidies to companies that will keep staff on the payroll during a politically sensitive year, as President Xi Jinping vies for an unprecedented third term.
Many college students graduating this year were born around the year 2000, when the economy was humming along with annual growth of 8.5%. By the Chinese calendar, it was the year of the Dragon -- a time of prosperity.
But the picture for new grads is anything but prosperous these days, after the government's unrelenting bid to stamp out COVID-19 outbreaks saw lockdowns in major cities, including the financial capital, Shanghai, dealing a blow to the world's No. 2 economy. The measures have also stoked an unusual level of public anger.
"Businesses are likely expecting weak domestic and external demand for an extended period, and will remain conservative in hiring and retaining employees," BofA Securities said in a June report, adding that youth unemployment could hit 23% in July and August. "Labor market challenges this year could be greater than those [early in the pandemic], given the absence of a clear end to the economic downturn and little likelihood of a rapid or robust rebound."
While there are signs of a recovery in the second half of the year, a Nikkei survey of several dozen economists found that they expected growth to slow to 4.1% in 2022, well short of the government's 5.5% target.
The tepid outlook is no surprise to Amy Tan, a job recruiter based in Guangzhou.
"The job market is especially sluggish due to COVID prevention measures," she said. "Companies aren't hiring because their sales have been affected."
Job seekers attend a career fair in Wuhan in March last year. Youth unemployment in China is running at record levels. © AFP/Jiji
Desperate job seekers are slashing salary expectations, while some are feeling the heat from disappointed parents who can't understand why their kids are not scooping up jobs.
"I've got no job and live at home," said one 22-year-old grad on popular social media platform Xiaohongshu. "My parents are giving me the cold shoulder for not going to work. ... I feel so anxious and confused about my future."
Another unemployed grad wrote: "My mother can't see that I'm so worried. Every day she says the only thing I know how to do is eat. ... [She says] I'm not thinking about the future and accuses me of being incompetent. ... But I'm trying my best."
The lack of prospects has pushed some new grads to apply for work at state-owned companies -- rarely a top choice in the past for young job seekers But more stable employers are becoming favorites for many, with nearly 45% of younger people currently looking for work eyeing state-owned companies, according to Chinese online recruiter Zhilian.
"This reflects a preference for stability among this year's job-seekers," it said in a report. "It may also be linked to state-owned enterprises dishing out more job opportunities to cushion the impact of the pandemic."
Others are holding off entering the gloomy job market altogether. Instead of leaving gaps in their resumes, some students are opting to stay in school by enrolling in master's programs or studying abroad. But even that is not a guaranteed solution.
The competition to get into advanced degree programs has become "fierce," according to a college supervisor responsible for career counseling at a leading Beijing university.
Fearful of being laid off, one of the supervisor's students broke a contract with Alibaba and instead joined China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, she added.
"The pandemic has greatly affected the job market," the supervisor, who asked not to be named, told Nikkei. "And the students know that well."
Additional reporting by Peggy Ye in Hong Kong.
