China’s glut of graduates

Shuli Ren

OVER the next few weeks, China will churn out a record 10.8 million college graduates. Finding them jobs is proving to be an unexpected headache for President Xi Jinping’s government, which has been struggling to contain Covid-19 outbreaks with citywide lockdowns.

Prospects are so dire, some universities have been urging seniors to delay graduation. Students complained to Caixin that they were not allowed to defend their thesis unless they had found a job. Some were forced to declare they would be “self-employed”, just so they could get their diploma. As of April, less than half of the graduating class had received a job offer, according to online recruitment site Zhaopin Inc.