2023-08-20 07:27:15
Job
In China, the fear of unemployment haunts the youth
In June, 21% of 16-24 year olds were looking for a job, according to official data. July figures were not released.
PostedAugust 20, 2023, 9:27 AM
The figures for the month of June are critical. However, they do not yet include the more than 11 million new graduates this summer.
AFP
Freshly graduated, qualified but unemployed: Like many Chinese of her generation, Zhang is desperate to find a job, at a time when youth unemployment in China has reached such a level that the authorities have suspended the publication of figures. According to the latest official data from June, some 21% of 16-24 year olds were looking for a job in the world’s second largest economy. A figure underestimated according to some analysts but which was already a record level, even before the arrival on the labor market this summer of more than 11 million new graduates of higher education.
The detail for the month of July is not known: China this week suspended the publication of its data for young people, citing the need to “adjust” its methodology.
Despite sending out hundreds of resumes in recent months, Zhang has been unable to find employment in her field, psychology. Ironically, the 23-year-old woman did a survey on job search anxiety during her studies. “I discover that the pressure is really enormous,” confides to AFP this Beijinger met on Saturday in the aisles of a job fair. “Out of ten CVs sent, I only received one response,” laments Zhang, who did not wish to give his full name for fear of reprisals.
Anguish and regret
The mood of the young people met by AFP this week confirms the sluggishness of the job market in China. Yang Yao said he was disappointed not to have found anything as an offer despite his experience in the media sector. Only low-paying positions in sales and administration are to be filled, observes the 21-year-old young man plagued by anxiety after several weeks of unsuccessful searches.
“Every night I worry: if I can’t find a job, how am I going to pay my bills? I can’t sleep at night,” Yang Yao, who regrets leaving a job near Shanghai to be closer to his family in Beijing, 1,200 kilometers further north, told AFP.
The “weaknesses” of the economy “are reflected in the labor market,” notes economist Jing Liu of HSBC bank. After a brief rebound at the start of the year following the lifting of health restrictions which had severely penalized activity since 2020, Chinese growth is now running out of steam. From the first to the second quarter of 2023, China’s GDP grew by only 0.8%, at a time when growth was weakened by waning consumer confidence and the setbacks of several ultra-indebted promoters.
Real estate has long been a key driver for growth in China, galvanized by a frenzy of buying in stone considered by the Chinese as a sure way to grow their savings. This sector is depressed today and it is not the only one.
“No limits”
After three years of health restrictions that have scalded the private sector, companies are now in “survival” mode, told AFP Xie Wei, in charge of recruitment in a telecommunications company. They are therefore “more selective” when it comes to hiring, insists Mr. Xie.
However, this finding is not representative. At the job fair visited by AFP on Saturday, more than a third of the stands were occupied by insurance companies, eager for new profiles. “More interesting profiles” are now trying their luck in insurance after waves of layoffs in other sectors, notes Ms. Yang, a salesperson in her forties. In this context, “we have no limit in terms of the number of people to recruit,” she told AFP. “We can always increase our numbers.”
(AFP)Show comments
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