2024 - The fat years are over - Young Chinese are at a disadvantage on the job market

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In these weeks, more than 10 million university graduates will enter the labor market in China. There are more than ever. But job prospects in China are particularly mixed for young people. Youth unemployment is at 18 percent.

JJ has several diplomas in his pocket. A bachelor’s degree in architecture from his university in China and a postgraduate master’s degree in Canada. The 28-year-old has even been able to gain some work experience in Canada. But when Corona paralyzed life in North America, JJ went back to China. “Looking back, the Covid lockdowns made me go back to China,” says JJ.

At the beginning of 2021 everything was running smoothly in China, says the architect. And he’s right. At that time, the pandemic seemed to be over in China. The economy was going well. JJ quickly found a job with a real estate company. But after just a month, the Evergrande scandal came. One of the largest and above all the most indebted Chinese real estate group got into financial difficulties. A signal for the entire industry.

Now it is saved

Oh my, things aren’t going well for me, JJ thought. The real estate sector has brought massive growth to China in recent decades and created numerous jobs. But on pump. Various highly indebted real estate groups have gone bankrupt in recent months or are on the brink. Dark clouds were also gathering at JJ’s company. Savings were made everywhere. But above all: «I noticed how the company bought less land. That means there are fewer projects. Too few to keep us all busy. We employees expected a wave of layoffs. Above all, we young and new feared for our job. » And sure enough, JJ got the notice.

Legend:

Job seekers gather at a job center in the southern Chinese industrial city of Dongguan. Young people in particular suffer from the high level of unemployment.

Keystone / Archives / Alex Hofford

Change of scenery: Into an industry that, like the real estate sector, has stood for economic and job growth in China in recent years. The tech industry. Wang Qi is responsible for marketing at a software start-up and is currently looking for new employees. However, no university graduates. They are not suitable. People from the university first have to be trained: “You have to teach them how to manage projects, how to communicate, how to organize events. You have to invest thousands of hours in them before they can fulfill their tasks.”