How China’s worsening economic woes are shattering the dreams of its top graduate students
- More than 200 new graduates were ‘fired before hired’ as a medical equipment firm abruptly shrank its recruitment plan
- Companies are under growing economic stress amid the US-China trade war
Tan Siyang, a Beihang University biological science and medical engineering graduate student, should be one of the last people to have to worry about finding a decent job in China.
Biotech scientists with his skills are always in short supply and his Beijing-based school is regarded as one of the best, with a reputation as China’s answer to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
And so, when Tan received multiple job offers soon after meeting representatives from various companies at an autumn on-campus recruitment fair at Beihang, things seemed to be working out as expected. He eventually decided to accept an offer of employment as a researcher with a hi-tech firm in Shenzhen, one of China’s most vibrant cities.
Assured of a job after graduation, Tan settled back and focused on enjoying his final months as a student.
But in December, things took an unexpected turn. The company he had agreed to work for, Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics, told him that due to a change in the company’s recruitment plans, the job offer was invalidated. Mindray, China’s largest medical equipment maker, said it would give Tan 5,000 yuan (US$727), roughly a third of what would have been his salary for one month, as compensation.