With a master’s degree in applied linguistics from one of Australia’s top universities, Ingrid Xie never expected to end up working in a grocery store after graduating from the University of Queensland in July last year.
Xie earned her undergraduate degree in English from Hainan Tropical Ocean University in China. She went abroad to pursue a master’s degree because she thought it would help her find a better job. But after spending a few months in Brisbane working at a grocery store after graduation, she decided to return to her hometown of Kunming, Yunnan Province, in February 2023 to take the English teaching exam.
Graduates line up to attend a job fair in Wuhan. Photo: Shutterstock
Xie soon discovered that many people had studied abroad and wanted the same thing. She said a fellow countryman had recently taken the English teacher recruitment exam, along with about 100 others. And he didn't pass.
China’s youth unemployment rate hit a record high in April, with 20.4 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds unemployed. Xie, 26, has been unemployed in China since graduating from college. “I’m really frustrated,” said the master’s degree holder.
Notably, nearly 11.6 million students will graduate this June, facing an increasingly competitive labor market.
The problem of unemployed educated youth has become so serious that people have begun to compare themselves to the literary great Kong Yiji - a fictional character in Lu Xun's story - who had to become a beggar and was ridiculed by the world.
State media have criticized this thinking, accusing them of self-indulgence. In March, a commentary in state media suggested that young Chinese people do not want to work jobs that are below their expectations.
Photo: Shutterstock
In fact, the Chinese economy is experiencing an imbalance between the number of jobs available and the qualifications of job seekers. According to investment group Goldman Sachs, the number of students graduating with a major in sports and education increased by more than 20% between 2018 and 2021.
But in 2021, the government abruptly banned tutoring, leading to a decline in the once $150 billion industry. That helped ease the homework burden for students but made it harder for young graduates to find work, including Xie, who had previously viewed tutoring as a way to gain teaching experience.
The country is also struggling to fill vacancies. Xie has seen job ads asking teachers to work in rural areas for a year. “I don’t like teaching in rural areas because it’s very difficult to live in that environment, especially for girls,” she said.
Eric Fish, author of a book on Chinese millennials, said the value of international degrees has diminished in China’s job market. Some employers think students may have inflated expectations or be too Westernized.
The Chinese government is fully aware of the problem. In April, Beijing detailed a series of policies designed to stimulate the job market, including subsidies for companies hiring unemployed graduates. The government wants state-owned enterprises to hire 1 million interns by 2023, and has set an overall target of creating 12 million urban jobs this year, up from 11 million in 2022.
The world's second-largest economy is not alone in struggling to rebalance after being devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers at Goldman Sachs note that youth unemployment in some European countries will exceed 20% in 2021, while in the US it will be close to 10%.
Xie said the scarcity of opportunities also puts pressure on her to take any job regardless of her interests. “You don’t even know what you want to do when you’re 25. What I was looking for was enough personal time and a job with a good work-life balance, but I couldn’t find that,” she said.
According to VNA/Tin Tuc Newspaper
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