[Beijing Diary] 20.4% Unemployment Rate and the Genius Boy

China's youth (ages 16-24) unemployment rate reached an all-time high of 20.4% last month. This means that more than one in five young people just starting their social lives are unable to find jobs. The sluggish employment situation in China, along with major indicators such as industrial production and retail sales released around the same time, paints a bleak outlook for China's economic prospects.

However, it is important not to overinterpret this figure. While the soaring youth unemployment rate is indeed detrimental to China's medium- to long-term economic growth, it does not mean that all members of society have lost their strength and are merely waiting for the economy to collapse. The 80% of the workforce who have found their place are fiercely entering the market and finding work. Among them, the top-tier young talents are working for unimaginably high salaries.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Huawei's job posting on its official Weibo channel on the 19th reveals the dizzying gap within China's employment market. The announcement stated that Huawei is once again looking for "genius boys." Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei has been actively recruiting teenage prodigies since June 2019. Rather than focusing on academic background or alma mater, the project targets global STEM talents based on major scientific research achievements, papers, patent applications, and international competition awards. In the first year of the project, they announced plans to hire 20-30 individuals, and 200-300 the following year, but the publicly disclosed list of genius boys to date is said to be fewer than 20.

The salaries of these genius boys are divided into three levels depending on their capabilities and fields, ranging from a minimum of 1.82 million yuan (approximately 343.32 million KRW) to as much as 10.08 million yuan. Based on statistics that the average annual salary in private companies across China last year was 65,237 yuan, the highest-paid genius boy at Huawei earns the equivalent of the salary of 155 ordinary people. According to the announcement, experienced hires can receive "five times" their current salary. While the high salaries reflect Huawei's desperation to respond to U.S. sanctions, they also reveal a social atmosphere willing to pay unlimited rewards to talented individuals.

Encountering the news of a "20.4% youth unemployment rate" alongside "genius boy recruitment," one cannot shake the thought that what China should fear is not just sluggish economic growth but the emerging structural social risks. While some struggle in poverty after graduating from university without finding a job, others, before even turning twenty, are receiving salaries equivalent to 155 people and riding in palanquins toward large corporations. The young generation understands better than anyone that this situation involves the Chinese Communist Party's political and diplomatic decisions, economic policies, and the current U.S.-China hegemony battle. Having long advocated for common prosperity, the Communist Party must now consider not just creating a few simple jobs immediately but how to resolve the youth anger that this polarization is likely to trigger.

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