Record-High Youth Unemployment in China Hits Women, Humanities Graduates Hardest

According to Guo Sheng, CEO of Zhaopin, one of the largest online recruiting platforms in the nation, women with humanities degrees from lesser-known universities are among three kinds of job searchers having the hardest time obtaining employment in China amid record-high young unemployment.

The situation is most "painful" for female jobseekers who graduated with non-STEM degrees from institutions outside the government's "985" and "211" projects, a list that includes prestigious names like Tsinghua and Peking, according to Guo, who works for a Beijing-based internet recruiter, reported by South China Morning Post.

Youth Unemployment in China Worsens

Youth unemployment rates in China are at their worst levels in decades, which complicates Beijing's efforts to recover from the pandemic.

Since 2020, the unemployment rate for those between the ages of 16 and 24 has been steadily rising. Over the past two months, it has reached new highs, rising from 20.4 percent in April to 20.8 percent in May.

The worst is still to come, according to economists, as a record 11.58 million university graduates are projected to leave campus in July and August, which will cause the rate to increase even more.

(Photo: by -/CNS/AFP via Getty Images) This photo, taken on June 14, 2023, shows university graduates and youths attending a job fair in Yibin, in China's southwestern Sichuan province. Unemployment among Chinese youths jumped to a record 20.8 percent in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said on June 15, 2023, as the economy's post-Covid growth spurt fades.

Young individuals from low-income families and workers over 35, particularly those who are the only breadwinners and have mortgages and children who attend expensive schools, are two other groups that Guo claims are struggling the most in the present employment market.

The process has proven difficult despite Zhaopin's efforts to match these people with the appropriate openings, even going so far as to urge them to transfer industries, partly because employers are "picky," Guo said.

According to a report released last month by the state-backed China Academy of Labour and Social Security (CALSS), an increasing number of members of China's younger generation are using online job-search platforms run by tech giants like Tencent Holdings, the owner of WeChat, and ByteDance, the owner of TikTok.

These jobs include part-time vlogging, content writing, and running an online store. According to the report, WeChat, for example, contributed to the creation of more than 50 million job chances last year. It also stated that more than 60% of the part-time workers on digital platforms who were questioned expressed interest in transitioning to full-time positions in their chosen professions.

Unemployed Youth in China

China's youth unemployment rate has reached a record high. This is a major challenge for the Chinese government, as young people are a key demographic for economic growth.

There are a number of factors that have contributed to the rise in youth unemployment in China. One factor is the economic slowdown that has been underway since 2020. The Chinese economy has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and this has led to a decline in demand for labor.

Another factor is the mismatch between the skills of young people and the jobs that are available. China's education system has traditionally focused on academic achievement, but the jobs market is increasingly demanding skills in areas such as technology and innovation. This mismatch has left many young people without the skills they need to find work.

The rise in youth unemployment is also having a disproportionate impact on women and poor students. Female humanities graduates are among China's least successful job seekers, and poor students are more likely to be unemployed than their wealthier peers.

The Chinese government is aware of the challenge of youth unemployment, and it has taken a number of steps to address the problem. These include providing more vocational training, creating more jobs in the service sector, and easing restrictions on foreign investment.