The youth of China are under stress. Already troubled by the protracted COVID pandemic, which has changed lives just as the nation’s Gen Zs transition into adulthood, recent college grads are grappling with an increasingly challenging job market. Over the years, China’s booming economy made new-age degree holders easily absorbed into corporate careers. But the government’s moves to rein in fast-growing sectors, including tech and real estate, have slowed recruitment for those lucrative jobs. People who work in prestigious positions with one of China’s largest companies often find themselves working long hours with no job security.
One source of pressure is that China is churning out more college graduates than ever before. Last year, nearly 10 million students enrolled in graduate programs, a 46 percent increase from a decade ago. In June 2020, the unemployment rate for degree holders aged 20 to 24 was 19.3%, compared to 5.1% in the broader economy, according to HSBC data. As concerns grow about their job prospects, some 20-somethings are looking at career path options in business, which has pursued a number of grads in recent years.
In a survey conducted by Aurora Mobile, only 38.5% of the 2021 graduating class were planning to enter the workforce. Some 18% said they were attending graduate school, while 26% were studying for China’s grueling national civil service exam. The competition here is tough. The number of applicants for the exam has increased to 1.51 million this year from 1.28 million in 2016. More than 5.3 million opted to take the provincial civil services exam, up from 3.67 million five years ago. But the number of openings has barely decreased, and only a small fraction are offered public sector positions. The outlook for those applying to grad schools doesn’t get much better.
Young women starting their careers face the added pressures inherent in sexism. Most Chinese companies require job seekers to send personal photos with their applications and women sometimes borrow money to pay for face-lifts and other beauty procedures. The practice is so common that in August state-owned stock exchanges barred cosmetic surgery loans from being packaged in asset-backed securities.
Worried about shrinking opportunities and some of their compatriots’ obsession with making money, some Gen Z Chinese are opting out of high-stress careers altogether. His rejection of materialism gave rise to the “lie flat” movement, a now-global meme that embraces the idea of doing as little as possible.
It is unknown how many educated youth are actually doing this, but the incident has worried the Chinese government that millions of Gen Xers will never become productive members of society. To help ease anxiety among young adults, the government this summer rolled out new rules to make educational and early career obligations more attractive. This put a halt to after-school learning programmes, which many see as stress-producing. It also outlawed China’s ‘996’ work culture, which holds that tech companies can ask employees to work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week.
Last month, in an education-reform effort, China launched a new track inspired by the German educational system that will enroll students in vocational programs where time is split between classes and on-the-job training. The new approach appears to be a logical way to connect young people to jobs, while also promoting a high-end manufacturing sector that needs skilled workers. This can be a tough sell. The prevailing wisdom among China’s urban middle-class youth is that even a bachelor’s degree, let alone a vocational diploma, will not guarantee the desired financial stability.
So far, Beijing’s moves have had little effect. On average, Chinese parents spend about $1,880 per year on tuition classes, or about a third of per capita disposable income. Nearly 60% of individuals who responded to a recent survey by CLSA said they would continue to spend that amount on education despite China’s private-tuition ban.
Meanwhile, employees are working the highest number of hours on record. And for every Gen Zer who chooses to lie, many others are so obsessively industrious that the Chinese have jokingly injected them with “chicken blood,” a medicinal treatment once thought to stimulate energy. used to go. As China’s economy develops with technology, the country will need more skilled workers to manufacture semiconductors, electric vehicles and other products. A grand plan emulating the German model is a good start, but Beijing will have to do a lot more to remove the social stigma of construction work and entice the generation. For Z factories. Maybe a place to start is a new mantra. How to learn to build new things, instead of lying flat?
Shuli Ren is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian markets
Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint.
download
Our App Now!!
,