New graduates are not eager to find jobs.

China: A wave of "slow employment" is growing in Shanghai, with more than a third of new university graduates not keen on finding work immediately.

According to a survey of more than 4,000 new graduates in the city conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics in April, the rate of those who were “slow to find a job” was 38%. This is more than double the 16% rate in 2015, when the term first appeared in China, reflecting the lack of urgency among graduates in their job search.

Of those who chose “have a job,” 32% said they continued to study. The proportion of those who delayed looking for a job without a specific plan was 6%, a five-fold increase from 2015.

A job fair for graduates in Anhui province, September 2023. Photo: SCMP — A job fair for graduates in Anhui province, September 2023. Photo: *SCMP*

The survey results come at a time of poor job prospects in China. The unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds hit a record high, exceeding 21% in June.

"Slow employment does not mean unemployment. They are just discouraged workers who have decided to 'lie still'," said Wang Dan, an expert at Hang Seng Bank of China.

Wang noted that many new graduates’ families now have the financial resources to support them – so-called “full-time children” or “paid children.” But in the long run, young people cannot stay at home for too long because their parents’ pensions and resources will be limited.

A survey in Shanghai also found that after three years of online learning, new graduates lack internship experience and communication skills, which pose a major challenge for them in the job market.

While young people struggle to find jobs in the hard-hit private sector, civil service positions are also extremely competitive, seen as a safe haven. Nearly 2.6 million people have registered for China’s civil service exam in November, the highest number in nearly a decade. But with 37,100 spots available, each applicant will compete with nearly 6,000 others.

This year, China has 11.6 million university graduates, the number of bachelors in Shanghai accounts for 2%. In general, the gloomy job market causes many bachelors to not go to work immediately but continue to study for a master's degree to increase their competitiveness. Statistics up to the end of last year show that the number of students registering to study abroad increased by more than 23% compared to 2021, about 81% of people chose to study for a master's degree.

Khanh Linh (According to SCMP)

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