Mandy Liu, a 21-year-old university student in Beijing, believes anyone who has lived in China during the pandemic can see that the country’s future looks increasingly uncertain.
Covid restrictions were stifling and employment was grim. She will graduate next year with a degree in tourism management and has submitted more than 80 applications. She has not received any offers.
Many young people had followed what the Chinese Communist Party told them to do, but were left disillusioned, Ms. Liu said. “What we see is people struggling to survive.”
That discontent has bubbled over in recent weeks as crowds of students, job seekers and young professionals stormed the streets in major cities across China to protest against the government’s iron fist. The unrest brought into focus the party’s long-standing concern that a shortage of jobs and economic opportunities for young people posed a threat to social stability.
On Wednesday, Beijing bowed to protesters’ demands and relaxed many of its “zero Covid” restrictions. But the bigger and worse problem remains: an ugly job market with too many applicants jostling for too few jobs could mean that China’s decades of economic prosperity will soon be out of reach for many young people.
Youth unemployment is still near the highest level on record, with an additional 11.6 million graduates preparing to enter the workforce next year. “The students want to protest because we feel our situation is getting worse,” said Ms. Liu, who did not take part in the recent protests.
Covid restrictions pulled momentum out of an economy already reeling from a collapse in the real estate market. The government’s crackdown on high-growth industries such as technology and private education has undermined opportunities in the private sector, increasing competition for civil service jobs and graduate school admissions.
The waning outlook has betrayed the expectations of a generation of young people who grew up in relative prosperity as beneficiaries of an emerging economy that provided stable employment and rising incomes for their parents. Students were told that by studying hard, they too could enjoy a better life.
“The promise was that if you educate yourself, you will get a well-paid job. That is no longer a reality,” says Max Zenglein, chief economist at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin. “To be the first generation to be disappointed, that creates a lot of emotional pressure.”
Understand what is happening in China
When China’s leader Xi Jinping addressed the Communist Party Congress in 2017, he stated that “a nation can only prosper if its young people thrive.” He repeated the mantra again in October ahead of the start of a precedent-defying third term, adding that China’s youth were “filled with increased optimism and entrepreneurial spirit”.
But the words sounded hollow. Frustration grew with growing numbers of unemployed young people and draconian Covid restrictions limiting opportunities for young people to work, travel and socialise.
In July, the unemployment rate for people aged 16 to 24 reached nearly 20 percent — the highest level since China began announcing the figure in 2018. The rate has dropped, but it is still three times the national average.
The graduates who have a job are paid less. The average monthly salary for 2022 graduates who found a job was 12 percent lower than what 2021 graduates received, according to a survey by Chinese job site Zhaopin.
The lack of postgraduate options has gotten so bad that when a prominent entrepreneur recommended that students take a “gap year” to travel within China, the video went viral and was heavily criticized for being out of touch with the challenges facing young people in the country .
Last month, China postponed the national civil service exam due to a rise in Covid infections. Civil service is considered one of the most stable in the country, with the exam dating back over 1,400 years. Alice Li, 23, is preparing for the exam when it is rescheduled. She will be one of 2.6 million applicants fighting for 37,100 jobs – about 70 applicants for each spot.
The growing demand for government jobs is a testament to how Mr. Xi has reformed China with a greater role for the state, forcing companies to take a back seat to the needs of the Communist Party.
Ms Li was working at a technology start-up in Shanghai this year when her boss told her at the height of the city’s Covid outbreak that the company was laying off 30 percent of its staff, including herself. After losing her marketing job, she began preparing for the Civil Service exam – an option she never considered until she felt the pain of losing her job.
“It’s hard enough for us to get a good job, and harder for us to stay,” said Ms. Li. “I have to believe that the public sectors will be the last to fall during the economic crisis.”
The Chinese labor market is struggling to keep pace with the influx of university students. In the past two decades, the number of graduates in China has increased sevenfold.
While the number of college graduates has continued to grow — an 8 percent increase for 2023 — the pandemic has also robbed students of formative social experiences during college life, compounding their frustration and anxiety.
Iris Feng, a senior at a Beijing university, said her student life has been dominated by Covid restrictions. Prior to the protests, she said, her school had put up a fence this year to prevent students from entering or leaving campus. Then it added a second layer of fencing and officials installed an alarm that sounded if people got too close. Students had to make arrangements to go to a field on campus or to the lab to study. Canteen chairs were removed because students were no longer allowed to eat there.
“University equated to living a dull, boring life. I think this sacrifice was not necessary,” said Ms. Feng, who had not returned to her hometown in two years because she feared she would no longer be allowed on campus.
When the protests broke out, some universities allowed students to return home after months of confinement and provided shuttle buses to transport students to train stations and airports. Some questioned whether the move was a concession to student protesters or a tactic to disperse them and prevent them from organizing future demonstrations.
As part of China’s announcement to ease pandemic measures this week, Beijing said schools should hold face-to-face classes and open libraries, cafeterias and other facilities if there are no outbreaks on campus. But as graduation approaches next summer, the question of what awaits these students as they enter the job market becomes increasingly urgent.
Elsa Han, 21, wants to work for a tech company after graduating because she doesn’t like the stuffy office culture of state-owned companies or government jobs. Ideally, she said, she would like a full-time job at the large internet conglomerate where she is interning. She knows the odds are slim because she expects more than 100 interns to apply for the one open position she envisions there.
If she can’t find a job, Ms. Han said, she hopes to travel abroad and leave China. “In the current environment in China,” she said, “I don’t think I’m living a happy life.”
