Chinese university graduates no longer dream of high salaries.

With unemployment rates reaching record highs, recent graduates and engineers are lowering their salary expectations and are willing to seek work, even manual labor, in smaller cities.

According to a report this week by the Liepin Big Data Research Institute, a Chinese recruitment platform, the average desired monthly salary for this year's graduates is 8,033 yuan (approximately 27 million VND), 100 yuan less than last year.

"Employment is tied to the overall performance of the market. In recent years, with increasing uncertainty, the macroeconomic environment has been under considerable pressure," according to a report by the Liepin Institute. The agency assessed that the salary expectations presented by students were "very reasonable."

Job seekers attend a job fair at Zhengzhou University, Henan province, China, in 2017. Photo: Reuters — Job seekers attend a job fair at Zhengzhou University, Henan province, China, in 2017. Photo: *Reuters*

Emerging economic centers, known as new Tier 1 cities, are attracting students by offering significantly higher salaries than before, with the aim of boosting the local economy.

Hefei, the capital of Anhui province in eastern China, is one example. In recent years, the city has focused its resources on industries such as electric vehicle manufacturing, smart home devices, integrated networks, and electronic information, aiming to build a new national technology cluster.

Hefei and Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, have seen average salary increases of 29% and 27% respectively this year, aiming to attract recent graduates and build a workforce for the region's industries.

On the part of recent graduates, they are trying to adapt to the volatile market by paying more attention to job opportunities in newly emerging Tier 1 cities. The percentage of job applications targeting these new cities increased from 33% to 40% this year. Meanwhile, for the four traditional Tier 1 cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, the percentage decreased from 54% to 49%.

Yuan Jianhua, founder of the employment consulting company Zxpai with 20 years of recruitment experience, said that recent graduates are becoming more open to moving to new cities because of the relatively low cost of living and greater future potential.

"Although average salaries are higher in major cities, it's difficult for young people to live comfortably after paying rent and essential expenses," Yuan said.

According to Liepin's survey, six out of every ten students graduating next year will settle for manual labor jobs if they cannot find their desired employment. This rate has increased by 1.6 percentage points compared to the previous cohort.

Top manual labor jobs include serving in the food and beverage industry, entertainment, or transportation jobs such as delivery, ride-hailing, and courier services. Others find work in more traditional sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture , and forestry.

Last month, a report from Jinan University and the recruitment platform Zhaopin indicated that "flexible jobs" accounted for nearly 20% of all job openings in the first quarter of this year, up from 14% three years ago. At the same time, the percentage of people seeking flexible jobs also increased by 4 percentage points, reaching 23%.

"Flexible work" is a euphemism for temporary, non-essential jobs, often involving manual labor. The report also confirms that "flexible work" is becoming a significant part of the job market, even accounting for a large proportion of job postings in some industries.

Unemployment among young people aged 16-24 in China reached over 20% in April this year, and continued to rise in the first half of the year. Recently, the country has stopped publishing figures following new government regulations.

Phuong Anh (According to SCMP )

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