China’s young workers – overqualified and in low-paying jobs
BBC/Rachel YuA shipping driver studied philosophy, a high-school locksmith received a master’s degree in physics, a high-school locksmith received a master’s degree in physics, and a graduate of Tsinghua University received a PhD to function as an ancillary police officer.
These are actual instances of a struggling business, and they are not difficult to replicate.
As Sun Zhan prepares to begin his change as a waiter in a warm bowl restaurant in Nanjing,” My dream job was to work in investment bank.”
The 25-year-old just graduated with a master’s degree in finance. He was hoping to “make a lot of money” in a high-paying position but adds,” I looked for such a career, with no great effects”.
Thousands of college graduates are produced annually in China, but there aren’t enough work for them in some fields.
The market has been struggling and stalling in key areas, including real estate and production.
Before the method of measuring the images was changed to make the situation look better, 20 % of youth poverty had been soaring. In August 2024, it was still 18.8 %. 16.1 % has dropped since November’s newest reading.
Many college graduates who struggled to find employment in their chosen field of study are now working for salaries that fall far below what their professional standards require, which raises questions from their families and friends.
When Sun Zhan became a server, this was met with anger by his kids.
” My family’s thoughts are a major issue for me. After all, I studied for many years and went to a very nice school”, he says.
He says his home is embarrassed by his career option and would prefer he tried to become a common servant or standard, but, he adds,” this is my selection”.
Yet he has a key program. He intends to employ his time working as a servant to learn how to run a restaurant so that he can later open his own restaurant.
He believes that the critics in his home will have to change their tune if he succeeds in running a successful enterprise.
According to Professor Zhang Jun of the City University of Hong Kong,” The job position is really, truly challenging in coast China,”” I think many young people have to actually reevaluate their expectations.”
She claims that many individuals are pursuing higher degree to improve their chances of success, but that the truth of the work environment eventually hits them.
” The employment industry has been really tough”, says 29-year-old Wu Dan, who is already a intern in a sports injury treatment center in Shanghai.
” For many of my mentor level colleagues, it’s their first time hunting for a career and very few of them have ended up getting one”.
She even didn’t believe that this would lead to her graduating from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology with a degree in finance.
Due to this, she worked at a future trading business in Shanghai, where she was specialising in agricultural goods.
When she returned to the island after finishing her experiments in Hong Kong, she made an offer to work for a private equity firm, but she was unhappy with the terms.
Her family did not like the fact that she started training in activities treatments and didn’t recognize any of them.
” They thought I had for a good work before, and my academic history is very competitive. They were unable to explain why I chose a low-barrier job that required me to perform natural labor for a small salary.
Without her partner’s house and the fact that she is currently employed, she would not be able to live in Shanghai.
At first, she didn’t know someone who supported her current career, but her family has since changed since she just treated her for her poor up, significantly lessening the pain she had been going through.
The one-time financing student then claims that, in fact, living in an investment industry is against her wishes.
She says she is interested in sports injury, likes the work and, one time, wants to start her own doctor.
BBC/RachelYuAccording to Prof. Zhang, Chinese graduates are being forced to alter their perceptions of what might be regarded as” a good position.”
In what might be seen as” a warning signal” for younger people, “many companies in China, including some tech firms, have laid off quite a lot of staff”, she adds.
She also says that important areas of the market, which had once been large companies of graduates, are offering sub-standard conditions, and good opportunities in these fields are disappearing altogether.
Unemployed graduates have also been turning to the film and television industries as they figure out what to do in the future.
Big budget movies need lots of extras to fill out their scenes and, in China’s famous film production town of Hengdian, south-west of Shanghai, there are plenty of young people looking for acting work.
As eye candy, I primarily stand next to the protagonist. I am seen next to the lead actors but I have no lines”, says Wu Xinghai, who studied electronic information engineering, and was playing a bodyguard in a drama.
The 26-year-old makes fun of how his attractiveness helped him get a job as an extra.
He claims that people frequently travel to Hengdian and work for only a short period of time. He claims that this is only a temporary solution until he finds a permanent solution. ” I don’t make much money but I’m relaxed and feel free”.
Getty Images” This is the situation in China, isn’t it? The moment you graduate, you become unemployed”, says Li, who didn’t want to give his first name.
He has signed up to work as an extra for a few months and majored in screenwriting and film directing.
” I’ve come here to look for work while I’m still young. When I get older, I’ll find a stable job”.
However, many people worry that they won’t be able to find a good job and may have to accept a role that isn’t their cup of tea.
Young people frequently don’t know what the future holds for them because they are uncertain about the direction the Chinese economy will take.
Wu Dan claims that even her friends who work can feel a little lost.
They feel that the future is uncertain and are quite perplexed. Those with jobs aren’t satisfied with them. They don’t know for how long they can hold onto these positions. And what else can they do if they lose their current position?”
She says she will “go with the flow and gradually explore what I really want to do.”
