China’s private sector ‘uncertainty’ is pushing young jobseekers to look for work in its vast bureaucracy

Millions of talented young Chinese are rejecting the private sector and settling for stable jobs with the nation’s vast civil service

Economic uncertainty following the pandemic, a gruelling private sector work culture and good salaries are all luring new graduates

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More than 1.58 million candidates registered for China’s national civil service exam this year, up from 125,000 in 2003. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Published: 10:30pm, 16 May 2021Updated: 1:43pm, 17 May 2021

Sick of working long hours for average pay, Dong Liang is looking to throw in his job at a small tech company in Shenzhen for work with China’s civil service.

The 24-year-old from Huizhou city in Guangdong province is one of millions of young Chinese desperate to find steady work in a time of deep economic uncertainty following the coronavirus pandemic.

Though he has been employed in China’s fast-growing tech sector since he graduated in 2018, the country’s vast bureaucracy holds an irresistible allure, promising a stable career for life and a host of benefits.

“I have been working a lot of overtime in the past two years and the tech company’s future is so uncertain,” he said a day before an interview for a provincial civil service job.

Every workmate beyond 35 likes talks about their concern over job losses in Shenzhen – it’s just exhausting

Dong Liang

“Every workmate beyond 35 likes talks about their concern over job losses in Shenzhen – it’s just exhausting.”

China’s overall job market has improved steadily as the economy has rebounded from the worst of the pandemic early last year, but young people, particularly fresh graduates from universities, are still having a hard time finding steady employment.

As a result, a new wave of young Chinese talent is spurning the private sector and settling for jobs with the nation’s civil service. Their enthusiasm for the public sector has only grown in recent months after last year’s economic downturn, as well as the government’s decision to delay the retirement age and the high-profile regulatory difficulties of some private businesses.

More than 1.58 million candidates registered for China’s national civil service exam this year, up sharply from 1.05 million in 2009 and 125,000 in 2003. They will compete for about 25,700 jobs at ministries and state agencies, putting the average chance of landing a government job at about one in 61.