China’s returning overseas graduates hit in the pocket, face harsh reality of job market
- Students with overseas undergraduate degrees in China earn an average first monthly salary about 2,700 yuan (US$374) below their expected income
- Unemployment rate for 16-24 age group stood at 14.7 per cent in April, although the adjusted figure does not include students
Returning overseas graduates have found the value of their degrees have fallen further in China’s increasingly competitive job market, with some students receiving salaries over a third lower than expected, a survey of over 9,000 students and parents showed.
Overseas-trained talent known as haigui, which sounds like the Chinese word for sea turtle, typically received first monthly salaries between 23 to 34 per cent lower than their expectations last year, according to a report released last week by New Oriental Education & Technology Group, a leading off-campus education provider.
The survey said students with overseas undergraduate degrees earned an average first salary of 7,928 yuan (US$1,097) per month, falling about 2,700 yuan below their expected income.
Graduates with a master’s degree, meanwhile, earned an average monthly salary of 9,526 yuan, although this also fell short of their expectations by about 2,200 yuan.
A record high 11.79 million university students are expected to enter China’s job market this year, with the world’s second-largest economy still not yet fully recovered.
