Aftermath of COVID-19, Chinese Youth Face Unemployment Crisis

Over 8.7 Million Expected College Graduates This Year... Cold Wind in the Job Market Due to COVID-19
Young Generation Born in the Late 90s Faces COVID-19 Test

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Young-shin] Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on the 14th that China will face its worst youth unemployment crisis this year. This summer alone, there are about 8.7 million university graduates in China. Due to the economic stagnation caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), youth unemployment is inevitable.

SCMP stated that the young generation born in the late 1990s in China has never experienced economic hardship. Their parents' generation also grew up alongside China's economic development and has not experienced a recession. This is why the economic downturn triggered by COVID-19 is so alarming. China's economy shrank by 6.8% in the first quarter of this year. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasted in April that the global economy will decline by 3%, marking the worst recession since the Great Depression.

SCMP reported that this contraction has been directly reflected in China's employment market. According to a recent study by Peking University, the number of jobs in China decreased by 27% in the first quarter compared to the previous year. The service and entertainment industries led the job losses, followed by education, information technology (IT), and the financial industry.

According to Zhaopin, a Chinese job recruitment website, the hiring of new employees by companies in the first quarter of this year dropped by as much as 17% compared to the same period last year.

Recognizing this issue, the Chinese Ministry of Education is preparing various policies to support employment for upcoming graduates, including expanding recruitment in state-owned enterprises, military enlistment, and increasing graduate school programs. These are desperate measures to prevent the worst unemployment.

SCMP pointed out that the number of university graduates is so large that the policies of China's education authorities may be insufficient. The number of university students in China has increased every year for the past 20 years. Since 1999, the Chinese government has devoted efforts to higher education, including tuition support. As a result, as of 2016, 4 out of 10 young people aged 18 to 22 attend university. Before higher education support in 1998, only 1 out of 10 attended university. This situation inevitably intensifies competition. On top of this, COVID-19 has become an unexpected obstacle.

Xu Hongcai, Deputy Director of the Economic Policy Committee of the China Policy Science Society, said, "University graduates are looking for good jobs, but the demand (number of jobs) cannot keep up with the supply (number of university students)." SCMP quoted experts saying that about 2.2 million university graduates will be unemployed this year, stating that "China's young generation has been put to the test by COVID-19."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.