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China’s desperate young jobseekers face fierce competition, provide headache for Beijing
- Chinese President Xi Jinping called employment a ‘most basic livelihood concern’, pledging to make youth employment a top policy priority
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Amid China’s ongoing economic struggles, unemployment remains a headache for Beijing. In this eight-part series, we examine the range of unemployment issues facing the world’s second-largest economy, from young people to “the curse of 35”, as well as gig workers and the political implications.
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At the end of May, Beijing-based start-up founder Zuyi Lee posted a part-time accounting job on an online recruitment platform. Within 24 hours, a staggering 142 applicants had reached out.
Lee whittled the list down to 16 applicants, with only one failing to show up for the interview.
“For fresh graduates, the competition in job seeking is fierce,” Lee said. “It’s clear that many are in urgent need of employment.”
While China has been rolling out a slew of measures to support employment – an issue deemed crucial to social stability and consumer confidence – pressure in creating enough jobs is still mounting as a record 11.79 million college graduates are entering the job market this summer.
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China’s youth unemployment rate has been a much-watched figure, particularly after it rose to a headline-grabbing 21.3 per cent in June 2023.
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