The 2023 graduation season will be the most challenging employment season for China's 11.58 million college students. According to the latest statistics involving 2022 graduates released by China's Career Development platform Julian recruitment, the contracting rate of engineering graduates, which has been high for years, is only 17.3 per cent, and the contracting rate of liberal arts graduates is as low as 12.4 per cent. This indicates that one becomes unemployed upon graduation. In the past two years, more and more young people have joined the unemployment army, many of whom are college students who graduated just a few short years ago.
The economic recession is the primary reason for the employment difficulties that Chinese college graduates face. After three years of the zero coveted policy, China's economy has been hit hard, leading to sweeping layoffs. In 2023, it will be challenging to find a job. Many of the companies to which these students submitted their resumes have read their resumes but have yet to give them a response. The unemployed in Beijing is a complicated problem. The hopes for 2023 college graduates will be even slimmer.
Another essential factor contributing to the high unemployment rate among college graduates is that the number of college graduates needs to be lowered. After the former party leader Jiang Semin implemented the education sector commercialization policy, universities began to expand their enrollment and charge high tuition fees. This has gradually transformed colleges and universities, which initially had the fundamental goal of cultivating social conscience and free spirit, into an education training business to make money in profit.
The common practice of special talent classes, gifted classes, and tuition fees has led to the expropriation of resources invested in compulsory education in China. Higher education tuition fees have risen yearly, pushing many Chinese families into poverty. The industrialization of student housing support services, second degrees, and credentialing has become a money-making machine. Most private education in China, except for the highly humble private schools for migrant children, is supported by high fees beyond the reach of the general public and is called Elite schools. In just over a decade, children's education has become one of the significant expense items for Chinese families.
The heavy burden of tuition has made schooling unaffordable for the poor. In many primary and secondary schools, students have been divided into different classes based on family wealth, creating a social divide. China's colleges and universities have been increasing their enrollment without considering the student's future employment and preparing them for the job market, leading to chaos. In other words, a structural imbalance exists in the Chinese education system.
This structural imbalance is evident in the hiring sites of food factories where many highly educated university students are present. The fact that a college student has no job isn't just a personal misfortune; it means that the investment of a Chinese family for more than 20 years is wasted. A large number of social resources are destroyed, and it means a deep social crisis. China has many college graduates. If they can't find a suitable placement for several years, it will create an enormous challenge for Chinese society.
The 2023 graduation season will be China's college students' most challenging employment season. The current economic recession and the structural imbalance in the Chinese education system are the primary reasons for the high unemployment rate among Chinese college graduates. The Chinese government should address these issues and ensure that Chinese college graduates can find employment and contribute to economic development.
Backlinks: