「爛尾娃」：中國青年失業率上升催生新工人階級 (2/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

'Rotten-tail kids': China's rising youth unemployment breeds new working class (2/2)

Reuters - Ryan Woo, Ethan Wang

Tue, August 20, 2024 at 6:04 p.m. PDT·4 min read

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Amada Chen, a recent graduate from Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, quit her sales job at a state-owned enterprise last week after just one month.

She blamed her decision on the toxic work culture and her boss's unrealistic expectations. For the first 15 days of her probation, she was also getting just 60 yuan ($8.40) a day despite having to work 12 hours daily.

"I cried every day for a week," she said.

Chen had wanted to become a quality inspector or a researcher, jobs she thought would match her skills as a traditional Chinese medicine major.

But over 130 job application letters later, she was offered mostly sales or e-commerce related positions.

Chen said she was reconsidering her career path altogether and might turn to modelling.

UNCERTAIN OUTLOOK

Joblessness among college graduates is not without precedent.

In 1999, China dramatically expanded the enrolment capacity of universities in a bid to produce a better educated workforce to drive its fast-growing economy.

But the supply of graduates had kept exceeding jobs, with authorities expressing concern in 2007 over job availability, an issue that receded but never fully faded as more youth armed with degrees entered the market.

The outlook is uncertain even when a student's major aligns with market needs.

Shou Chen finished her third year at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications this year majoring in artificial intelligence.

However, Chen has yet to secure an internship after more than a dozen applications, and remains pessimistic about the job market.

"It may be worse," she said. "After all, there will be more and more people (in this field)."

Supply of tertiary students will exceed demand from 2024 through 2037, after which the effects of falling fertility rates will kick in and sharply narrow the gap, according to a study published in June by China Higher Education Research, a journal under the education ministry.

New college graduates will likely peak at around 18 million in 2034, it said.

 Translation

（繼續）

剛從湖北中醫藥大學畢業的Amada Chen在一家國企的銷售工作 一個月後, 於上週辭了。

她將自己的決定歸咎於有毒的工作文化和老闆不切實際的期望。在試用期的前 15 天，儘管每天要工作 12 小時，她每天的薪水只有 60 元（8.40 美元）。

她說:「一週以來我每天都哭」。

Chen曾想成為一名質檢員或研究員，她認為這些工作與她中醫藥專業的技能相符。

但在作出 130 多封求職信後，她收到的職位大多是與銷售或電子商務相關。

Chen說她正在重新考慮自己的職業道路，並可能轉向模特兒行業。

前景不明朗

大學畢業生失業現象並非沒有先例。

1999年，中國大幅擴大了大學的招生規模，以培養受過更好教育的勞動力來推動其快速成長的經濟。

但畢業生的供應量一直超過就業崗位，當局在 2007 年對就業機會表示擔憂，這一問題曾有所緩解, 但隨著更多擁有學位的年輕人進入市場，問題從未完全消失。

即使學生的專業符合市場需求，前景也不確定。

Shou Chen今年畢業於北京郵電大學人工智能專業三年級。

然而，Chen在十幾次申請後仍未獲得實習機會，對就業市場仍持悲觀態度。

她說:“情況可能會更糟”;“畢竟（這個領域的）人會越來越多。”

教育部屬下期刊《中國高等教育研究》6月發表的一項研究顯示，2024年至2037年，受過高等教育學生的供應將超過需求，此後，生育率下降的影響將顯現，差距將急劇縮小。

報告稱，到 2034 年，應屆大學畢業生可能會達到 1,800 萬左右的高峰。

              So, rising unemployment in China is pushing millions of college graduates into a tough bargain, with some forced to accept low-paying work or even subsist on their parents' pensions, a plight that has created a new working class of "rotten-tail kids". I am wondering how this change in employment situation will impact the society as the economy is edging towards deflation.

Note:

1. The Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (北京邮电大学) is a public university in Beijing founded in 1955. The university is affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. (Wikipedia)