China is now a country where a high-school handyman has a master\u2019s degree in physics; a cleaner is qualified in environmental planning; a delivery driver studied philosophy, and a PhD graduate from the prestigious Tsinghua University ends up applying to work as an auxiliary police officer.<\/p>\n
These are real cases in a struggling economy \u2013 and it is not hard to find more like them.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dream job was to work in investment banking,\u201d says Sun Zhan as he prepares to start his shift as a waiter in a hot pot restaurant in the southern city of Nanjing.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old recently graduated with a master\u2019s degree in finance. He was hoping to \u201cmake a lot of money\u201d in a high-paying role but adds, \u201cI looked for such a job, with no good results\u201d.<\/p>\n
China is churning out millions of university graduates every year but, in some fields, there just aren\u2019t enough jobs for them.<\/p>\n
The economy has been struggling and stalling in major sectors, including real estate and manufacturing.<\/p>\n
Youth unemployment had been nudging 20% before the way of measuring the figures was altered to make the situation look better. In August 2024, it was still 18.8%. The latest figure for November has come down to 16.1%.<\/p>\n
Many university graduates who\u2019ve found it hard to get work in their area of selected study are now doing jobs well below what they\u2019re qualified for, leading to criticism from family and friends.<\/p>\n
When Sun Zhan became a waiter, this was met with displeasure by his parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family\u2019s opinions are a big concern for me. After all, I studied for many years and went to a pretty good school,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He says his family is embarrassed by his job choice and would prefer he tried to become a public servant or official, but, he adds, \u201cthis is my choice\u201d.<\/p>\n
Yet he has a secret plan. He\u2019s going to use his time working as a waiter to learn the restaurant business so he can eventually open his own place.<\/p>\n
He thinks if he ends up running a successful business, the critics in his family will have to change their tune.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe job situation is really, really challenging in mainland China, so I think a lot of young people have to really readjust their expectations,\u201d says Professor Zhang Jun from the City University of Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
She says many students are seeking higher degrees in order to have better prospects, but then the reality of the employment environment hits them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe job market has been really tough,\u201d says 29-year-old Wu Dan, who is currently a trainee in a sports injury massage clinic in Shanghai.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor many of my master\u2019s degree classmates, it\u2019s their first time hunting for a job and very few of them have ended up landing one.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also didn\u2019t think this was where she would end up with a finance degree from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.<\/p>\n
Prior to this, she worked at a futures trading company in Shanghai, where she was specialising in agricultural products.<\/p>\n
When she returned to the mainland after finishing her studies in Hong Kong, she wanted to work in a private equity firm and did get some offers but was not happy with the conditions.<\/p>\n
That she didn\u2019t accept any of them and instead started training in sports medicine was not welcomed by her family.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey thought I had such a good job before, and my educational background is quite competitive. They didn\u2019t understand why I chose a low-barrier job that requires me to do physical work for little money.\u201d<\/p>\n
She admits that she couldn\u2019t survive in Shanghai on her current salary, if not for the fact that her partner owns their home.<\/p>\n
At first, she didn\u2019t know anyone who supported her current career path, but her mother has been coming around after she recently treated her for her bad back, significantly reducing the pain she had been experiencing.<\/p>\n
Now the one-time finance student says she feels that a life working in the investment world actually doesn\u2019t suit her after all.<\/p>\n
She says she is interested in sports injuries, likes the job and, one day, wants to open her own clinic.<\/p>\n
Chinese graduates are being forced to change their perceptions regarding what might be considered \u201ca good position\u201d, Prof Zhang says.<\/p>\n
In what might be seen as \u201ca warning sign\u201d for young people, \u201cmany companies in China, including many tech companies, have laid off quite a lot of staff\u201d, she adds.<\/p>\n
She also says that significant areas of the economy, which had once been big employers of graduates, are offering sub-standard conditions, and decent opportunities in these fields are disappearing altogether.<\/p>\n
While they work out what to do in the future, unemployed graduates have also been turning to the film and television industry.<\/p>\n
Big budget movies need lots of extras to fill out their scenes and, in China\u2019s famous film production town of Hengdian, south-west of Shanghai, there are plenty of young people looking for acting work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mainly stand beside the protagonist as eye candy. I am seen next to the lead actors but I have no lines,\u201d says Wu Xinghai, who studied electronic information engineering, and was playing a bodyguard in a drama.<\/p>\n
The 26-year old laughs that his good looks have helped him become employed as an extra.<\/p>\n
He says people often come to Hengdian and work for just a few months at a time. He says this is a temporary fix for him too, till he finds something permanent. \u201cI don\u2019t make much money but I\u2019m relaxed and feel free.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the situation in China, isn\u2019t it? The moment you graduate, you become unemployed,\u201d says Li, who didn\u2019t want to give his first name.<\/p>\n
He majored in film directing and screenwriting and has also signed up to work as an extra for a few months.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve come here to look for work while I\u2019m still young. When I get older, I\u2019ll find a stable job.\u201d<\/p>\n
But many fear they\u2019ll never land a decent job and may have to settle for a role unlike what they had imagined.<\/p>\n
The lack of confidence in the trajectory of the Chinese economy means young people often don\u2019t know what the future will hold for them.<\/p>\n
Wu Dan says even her friends who are employed can feel quite lost.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are quite confused and feel that the future is unclear. Those with jobs aren\u2019t satisfied with them. They don\u2019t know for how long they can hold onto these positions. And if they lose their current job, what else can they do?\u201d<\/p>\n
She says she will just \u201cgo with the flow and gradually explore what I really want to do\u201d.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China is now a country where a high-school handyman has a master\u2019s degree in physics; a cleaner is qualified in environmental planning; a delivery driver studied philosophy, and a PhD graduate from the prestigious Tsinghua University ends up applying to work as an auxiliary police officer. These are real cases in a struggling economy \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106932\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}