Berliner Boersenzeitung - China's jobless youth left in the lurch

EUR -
AED 4.021513
AFN 73.974606
ALL 98.722802
AMD 422.669182
ANG 1.970756
AOA 999.056066
ARS 1067.258915
AUD 1.62193
AWG 1.971314
AZN 1.861756
BAM 1.955657
BBD 2.207839
BDT 130.670472
BGN 1.955539
BHD 0.41227
BIF 3225.864791
BMD 1.09487
BND 1.428296
BOB 7.583447
BRL 6.144195
BSD 1.09352
BTN 91.900899
BWP 14.511942
BYN 3.578539
BYR 21459.455315
BZD 2.204139
CAD 1.506268
CDF 3151.036603
CHF 0.938544
CLF 0.03677
CLP 1018.515736
CNY 7.736572
CNH 7.744712
COP 4594.964965
CRC 564.858814
CUC 1.09487
CUP 29.014059
CVE 110.256961
CZK 25.044553
DJF 194.715803
DKK 7.468876
DOP 65.8352
DZD 145.736035
EGP 53.190565
ERN 16.423053
ETB 130.945352
FJD 2.431488
FKP 0.837761
GBP 0.837761
GEL 2.972538
GGP 0.837761
GHS 17.446728
GIP 0.837761
GMD 74.997054
GNF 9434.312111
GTQ 8.455383
GYD 228.773319
HKD 8.50701
HNL 27.199017
HRK 7.542594
HTG 144.069495
HUF 401.698078
IDR 17046.197894
ILS 4.115431
IMP 0.837761
INR 92.119475
IQD 1432.495552
IRR 46096.77373
ISK 149.613743
JEP 0.837761
JMD 173.117377
JOD 0.775723
JPY 163.287802
KES 141.049716
KGS 93.608807
KHR 4442.676069
KMF 492.154142
KPW 985.382905
KRW 1477.32999
KWD 0.33561
KYD 0.911234
KZT 529.441397
LAK 23977.251734
LBP 97920.76025
LKR 320.076662
LRD 211.044612
LSL 19.108007
LTL 3.232867
LVL 0.662276
LYD 5.234618
MAD 10.723018
MDL 19.299593
MGA 5024.633636
MKD 61.605508
MMK 3556.095601
MNT 3720.368865
MOP 8.752162
MRU 43.289844
MUR 50.45944
MVR 16.806324
MWK 1896.161744
MXN 21.108369
MYR 4.694255
MZN 69.962365
NAD 19.108007
NGN 1795.58726
NIO 40.237066
NOK 11.711547
NPR 147.041279
NZD 1.792108
OMR 0.42147
PAB 1.09352
PEN 4.073303
PGK 4.300686
PHP 62.659766
PKR 303.536968
PLN 4.294601
PYG 8534.377728
QAR 3.986609
RON 4.977384
RSD 117.185081
RUB 104.753162
RWF 1472.392643
SAR 4.111473
SBD 9.086685
SCR 14.892614
SDG 658.566036
SEK 11.355386
SGD 1.429023
SHP 0.837761
SLE 25.01483
SLL 22958.87651
SOS 624.954432
SRD 34.977268
STD 22661.601967
SVC 9.568302
SYP 2750.89444
SZL 19.101607
THB 36.389074
TJS 11.65645
TMT 3.842994
TND 3.366255
TOP 2.564296
TRY 37.534015
TTD 7.422459
TWD 35.231612
TZS 2979.682741
UAH 45.028217
UGX 4018.706982
USD 1.09487
UYU 45.726666
UZS 13961.981982
VEF 3966224.706075
VES 42.51959
VND 27174.677598
VUV 129.985219
WST 3.066933
XAF 655.909175
XAG 0.034703
XAU 0.000412
XCD 2.958941
XDR 0.813441
XOF 655.909175
XPF 119.331742
YER 274.100705
ZAR 19.061235
ZMK 9855.144828
ZMW 28.894893
ZWL 352.547748
  • NGG

    0.5600

    66.24

    +0.85%

  • AZN

    0.4800

    77.35

    +0.62%

  • CMSC

    0.1200

    24.71

    +0.49%

  • RBGPF

    1.7400

    61.23

    +2.84%

  • GSK

    -0.3800

    38.83

    -0.98%

  • CMSD

    0.1800

    24.95

    +0.72%

  • BTI

    0.0700

    35.18

    +0.2%

  • RIO

    0.3900

    67.23

    +0.58%

  • SCS

    0.3100

    12.91

    +2.4%

  • BP

    -0.2300

    32.11

    -0.72%

  • BCC

    3.4200

    142.37

    +2.4%

  • RYCEF

    0.0100

    7.01

    +0.14%

  • VOD

    -0.0900

    9.65

    -0.93%

  • JRI

    0.0300

    13.25

    +0.23%

  • RELX

    0.4700

    46.83

    +1%

  • BCE

    0.1600

    33.02

    +0.48%

China's jobless youth left in the lurch
China's jobless youth left in the lurch / Photo: Jade Gao - AFP

China's jobless youth left in the lurch

China's slowing economy has left millions of young people fiercely competing for an ever-slimming raft of jobs and facing an increasingly uncertain future.

Text size:

Official data released this month showed one in five young people in Chinese cities was out of work in July -- more than three times the national average and the highest recorded since January 2018.

Nearly 11 million graduates entered China's bleak job market this summer with the economy growing at 0.4 percent in the second quarter, the weakest in two years.

Zhao Yuting, 22, told AFP companies were reluctant to hire as the economy cools -- and that experienced workers were now jostling for entry-level jobs, elbowing out green hands such as her.

Since graduating in July, she submitted her CV to dozens of companies.

Only a handful called her back for an interview, only to turn her down saying she lacked experience.

Armed with a degree in English, Zhao thought she could earn a living as a tutor until she found full-time work.

But recent crackdowns on the tech and education sectors, which usually absorb fresh talent, have evaporated such jobs.

"I've been job hunting for two or three months but the prospects of being hired look slim," said Zhao, who has been forced to move back in with her parents while she hunts for work.

"The longer it takes, the greater the pressure."

- Slim prospects -

Analysts blame a slowing economy crippled by Covid lockdowns, as well as the large cohort entering the labour force during the graduating season in July and August, for the slim prospects facing China's youth.

Official data does not track unemployment among rural youth, and the real jobless population could be more than double the official number, estimated Zhuang Bo, an economist at research group TS Lombard.

Blue-collar workers, too, are struggling to find work as growth in the manufacturing and construction sectors cools.

"The reality is more serious than what the data shows," said Ho-fung Hung, who specialises in China's political economy at Johns Hopkins University.

"If the problem continues without remedy, it will easily spread social disorders."

At a job fair in the tech hub Shenzhen, long lines of anxious parents and young graduates waited for a chance to chat with recruiters.

But headhunters at the fair said they were cherry-picking graduates from top universities, because only a few positions were available.

"My goal was to work in Shenzhen, in China's Silicon Valley," Luo Wen, a computer science graduate, told AFP.

"But after more than four months of searching, I'm ready to work even in a smaller city, for less pay."

- 'I can't see the future' -

Graduates who managed to find work this year were offered salaries that were on average 12 percent less than last year, data from online recruitment firm Zhaopin showed.

And while some job seekers were lowering their ambitions, others were biding their time pursuing further studies.

Experts warned that this may lead to "degree inflation", where employers demand higher and higher qualifications for jobs that do not necessarily require them.

Analysts blamed government policies that saw a rapid rise in college students over the past decade as the economy failed to accommodate more knowledge workers.

"The pandemic and lockdowns simply aggravated the problem," Hung said.

The government has pledged to shore up employment by offering tax relief for small businesses and more start-up funding.

Premier Li Keqiang has said China's employment crisis is "complex and grave" and called on state-owned companies to step up to stabilise the economy.

And as growth in the private sector slows, job seekers have flocked to cram schools to prepare for highly competitive civil service exams.

A record-breaking two million people signed up for the national civil service exam last fall.

A recent survey by 51job, one of China's biggest job search services, found that 40 percent of respondents preferred stable state jobs over corporate careers.

But for Zhao, who cannot afford to study further and does not have the connections to secure a government job, few options remain.

"I feel that I can't see the future," she said.

"I haven't made any progress. It's miserable."

(S.G.Stein--BBZ)