New unproductive force in China finds college graduation does not guarantee a job

China is creating a new workforce of employment. The government policies are now focusing measurably on the narrow areaof science and technology, which also include artificial intelligence and robotics.

According to critics, the weak demands in other sectors have led to the risk of highly educated people who missed the last boom, completing studies too late to be stable in new emerging industries.

According to the data, 11.79 million who completed their graduation in 2024 will be facing job scarcity, which will majorly affect white-collar sectors. Roles at companies like Tesla, IBM, and Byte Dance have also seen cuts in employment vacancies recently.

Ajun, a 31-year-old woman, quit her education due to China’s crackdown on private tutoring. She now earns 5,000 yuan per month through content creation, vlogs, content editing, private consultations, and selling handicrafts at street stalls.

“I think in the future, freelancing will be normalized,” said Ms. He. “Even if you stay in the workplace, you’ll still need freelancing abilities. I believe it will become a backup skill, like driving,” Ajun said.

Urban youth unemployment among around 100 million Chinese aged 16 to 24 increased up to 17.1 per cent in July.

More than 200 million people employed in the gig economy, known to be the fastest-growing economy, still face its capacity limits. Chinese are being warned about ride-hailing oversaturation in 2024.

These issues also spread to government jobs, which used to be considered the “iron rice bowl” of lifetime employment.

In 2023, there was a five per cent headcount reduction, with thousands removed, as per the official statement. Henan province removed 5,600 jobs earlier in 2024, while Shandong cut 10,000 positions since 2022.

The Human Resources Minister stated in March, “China is currently lacking welders, joiners, elderly caregivers, and highly skilled digital talent.”

The opinion around this new workforce employment

Professor Lu Yao, a sociologist at Columbia University, estimated that 25 per cent of college graduates, who are around 23 to 35 years old, are currently working in jobs below their qualifications.

48 million university students have the probability of having lower salaries starting out, which will make their contribution relatively less, stated a Chinese economist who wanted to remain anonymous.

“Although they cannot be called a ‘lost generation’, it is a huge waste of human capital,” the person said.

As per a National Bureau of Statistics report released on Monday, in June, the nation’s youth unemployment rate — people between ages 16 and 24 — reached a record high of 21.3 per cent.

The increasing unemployment of youth “increases broader social acceptance and reduces stigma surrounding unemployment,” said Columbia’s Prof. Lu, allowing otherwise isolated youth to connect and “perhaps even redefine what it means to be unemployed in today’s economic climate.”

Talking to NBC, Mao Xuxin, principal economist at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research in Britain, said that in recent years, young people in China had started looking for less challenging, short-term jobs. This, he said, was followed by what he called the “lying flat” movement, where people would do the bare minimum, or just enough to get by. Now, Mao said, it has escalated to people taking the next step and asking for their parents’ help.

(With inputs from agencies)