Editor's Note: China has one foot stuck in the Industrial Age and the other in the Information Age, and the step has been sudden and awkward. The implications are seen in surveys of recent graduates who are entering a transforming jobscape. At the end of the year we posted an examination of recent graduates followed a ranking of cities with the highest salaries. The translated article reports results from a survey from Beijing News on the state of the economy for recent graduates.

Beijing News recently reported that there are 7.65 million college graduates in China this year, which is a record high. This means that there are millions of young Chinese looking for a job. On May 6, Premier Li Keqiang said in a forum on employment and social affairs that the promotion of employment is imperative in China.

Urban employment declined in 2015 during China’s economic slowdown. How can China make room for millions of recent graduates in its job market?

Reports from mid-April 2016 show that 52.11% of Chinese university graduates are employed in the “new economy” as civil servants, or in business and enterprises. The demand for labor in the service industry is on the rise.

At a news conference held last January, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) spokesperson Li Zhong said the China’s employment situation was “generally stable.” Li Zhong said that 13.12 million urban jobs were created last year and the urban registered employment rate was 4.05%. The government’s original target was 10 million new jobs and an employment rate of 4.5%.

A Shifting Economy
In the past five years, the number of new urban jobs has continued to increase. There were 11.68 million new jobs in 2010, and 13.22 in 2014. In 2015, the figure fell for the first time in recent years.

“Policy development efforts concerning employment and entrepreneurship are continuing,” said Li Zhong. China’s employment situation was generally stable between January and March 2016. Li Zhong noted that the pressure on the Chinese economy has promoted structural adjustment, and has had an impact on employment.

However, as the economy shifts, employers have different needs and no longer need certain kinds of workers. In some regions and industries, unemployment has increased because of the increased structural changes to the economy.

MOHRSS recently released an analytical report in 2016 on market supply and demand for urban public employment services. The report shows that there were 52 million workers hired through public employment services in the first quarter of 2016. This is 229,000 less than in the same period last year, down 4.5%. 1.2 million fewer people were hired in the Eastern regional job market in 2016 than in the previous year, while the number of job seekers increased by 14.1 million people.

Here are a few observations from a recent report on recent graduates and the Chinese job market.

1) The “New Economy” Is Employing More Workers
The CEO of 51job.com gave a speech at the May forum chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. He said that since the first quarter of this year, traditional mass employment industries like machinery and equipment, building materials and engineering have “become cold.” Positions in the service economy and “the new economy,” like IT personnel are in high demand and short supply.

In the website’s “2016 Graduates Survey Report,” 32% of recent graduates found employment in the high-tech industry and 12.6% found jobs in business. The survey was answered by 3,095 graduate and 1,661 companies.

2) Young Graduates Prefer First-Tier Cities
According to 51job.com’s “2016 Graduate Survey Report,” recent graduates still prefer to work in first-tier cities. Shanghai is the most popular city for young graduates followed by Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Beijing. Students graduating from universities not in first-tier cities look for jobs in cities like Suzhou, Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Chengdu.

The pay is highest for young graduates in first-tier cities. In Shanghai, recent graduates earn an average monthly salary of 4,441 RMB. In second-tier cities like Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Nanjing however, pay rates are catching up to those in first-tier cities.

3) Hard Skills and Experience are Important 
Companies are most concerned with recent graduates’ university and field of major. “When graduates have almost zero work experience, companies must put their faith in the universities,” said a researcher involved in compiling the report.

However, companies are starting to look more at skills and less at university rankings. 56.2% of companies want recent graduates with internship experience, and 48.5% want recent graduates with professional skills. In 2016, recruitment for students from 211 or 985 key universities was 53.8%, down from numbers in 2015.

“The survey found that companies are looking at ‘hard skills’ as well as university rankings,” said the researcher.

4) Entrepreneurship is Growing in Popularity
The “Chinese Graduate Employment Report,” released by MyCos.com shows that in 2014, 7% startup founders with undergraduate degrees and 6% with postgraduate degrees founded their startup because they could not find a suitable job. 48% of founders with undergraduate degrees and 45% with postgraduate degrees founded their startup because they felt that become an entrepreneur was an ideal job.

The Beijing Bureau of Statistics reported in 2015 that 77.2% of students expressed interest in entrepreneurship, and 60.2% planned on becoming entrepreneurs. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce reported in 2014 that in the past five years 23,000 college graduates had started businesses.

Source: QQ News

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Keywords: Chinese work force China graduates employment