China's record graduating class faces bleak job market

June 14 (Asia Today) -- June and July mark college graduation season in China. This year, a record 12.7 million students are expected to graduate, 480,000 more than last year, and take their first steps into society.

Except for a fortunate few, however, many have little reason to celebrate. The phrase "graduation means unemployment," which has circulated in China for several years, remains relevant this year. Graduation season has instead become a season of frustration for young people facing a difficult search for work.

The severity of the situation is reflected in employment estimates. Recent reports by Chinese media, including the state-run Economic Daily, estimate that fewer than half of this year's college graduates have secured jobs.

Even among those who have found employment, few are sharing news that they have landed desirable positions.

"Students admitted to Renmin University are considered some of the most talented in the country," said Ma Xiangwu, a professor in the university's Department of Chinese Language and Literature. "But I have heard almost no news from graduates around me saying that they have found jobs. It is devastating."

The inability of highly educated young people to find suitable employment represents a major loss for Chinese society. It also casts a dark shadow over the broader economy.

Chinese education authorities are not standing by without taking action.

The Ministry of Education is strengthening cooperation with local governments and universities to promote what it describes as sufficient, high-quality employment for college graduates. It has also strongly encouraged companies to hire as many young people as possible.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has also shown an interest in the employment challenges facing graduates.

Some of those efforts have produced results.

Major technology companies in Hangzhou, a center of China's information and communications technology industry in Zhejiang province, have reportedly promised education authorities that they will hire more than 2,000 additional workers nationwide.

Some companies in major cities in neighboring Fujian and Jiangsu provinces are also reportedly responding to appeals from education authorities to increase recruitment.

Guizhou province, meanwhile, is continuing a program introduced last year that provides job-search subsidies to graduates from financially vulnerable backgrounds.

Eligible graduates receive 1,500 yuan, or about $220, per person. The province has allocated a total of 200 million yuan, or about $29.3 million, for the program.

Major cities including Beijing and Shanghai are also encouraging government agencies and state-owned companies to maintain or expand recruitment.

Compared with the 12.7 million people expected to graduate this year, however, only a small number will benefit from those measures.

Many of the remaining graduates may have to turn to food delivery, package delivery and other flexible forms of employment.

"I sometimes wonder whether this is why I spent four years at university," said Chen Mingxi, who is preparing to graduate from a university in Beijing. "I feel very sorry toward my parents."

China needs fundamental measures to address the problem. Without them, the employment difficulties facing college graduates are likely to continue beyond this year.

Persistent graduate unemployment could also undermine China's long-term ambition to overtake the United States in overall economic strength and become the world's leading power around 2035.

-- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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This story was originally published June 14, 2026 at 8:03 PM.