China’s army of upcoming college graduates brace to compete for jobs with a familiar rival – the class of 2020’s unhired alumni
- Competition for jobs among fresh university graduates in China looks to be even more intense next year as the coronavirus left millions of degree-holders out of work
- Ministry of Education says a record 9 million Chinese graduates will try to enter the workforce in 2021
With yet another record number of university and college graduates expected to enter the workforce next year, China’s young adults could very well find themselves in the most difficult environment ever to land jobs.
The Ministry of Education this week put that estimated total at 9.09 million Chinese – an increase of about 350,000 graduates from this year’s record high of 8.74 million.
The coronavirus compounded their struggles this year with widespread disruptions. In the spring, lockdowns across the country resulted in the cancellations of offline job fairs, while fewer jobs than usual were available after countless firms froze headcounts.
On Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, a popular comment in response to a state media post about next year’s graduate number said, “As someone from the class of 2020, I have been on the verge of collapse while looking for a job.” And a response to that noted that this year’s graduation season was far more difficult than those of previous years.