young graduates are getting low-skilled jobs

China is today a country where Overqualified young people are getting jobs with little preparation. These are real cases of an economy in crisis in a land that produces millions of university students a year but without a sufficient labor market to absorb them.

University students in low-skilled jobs: a reality in China

“My dream job was to work in investment banking,” he says. Sun Zhan 25 years old to the BBC as he begins his shift as a waiter at a restaurant in the southern city of Nanjing. The young man has just graduated from a master’s degree in finance. He expected to “make a lot of money” in a high-paying position, but adds, “I didn’t get good results.”

China produces millions of college graduates each year but, in some fields, there simply aren’t enough jobs for them. The economy has been in trouble and stagnant in important sectors, including real estate and manufacturing.

Youth unemployment, according to the last measurement, in November, was 16.1%. “The employment situation is actually very complicated in mainland China, so “I think many young people have to readjust their expectations.”says the teacher Zhang Jun of the City University of Hong Kong.

“The job market has been really tough,” says Wu Dan29, told BBC, who is currently interning at a massage clinic for sports injuries in Shanghai.

He never thought he would work in this field, with a degree in finance from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He was previously at a futures trading company in Shanghai, where he specialized in agricultural products.

The decline in the wealthy sectors of the Chinese economy

He says many students pursue higher degrees to have better prospects, but then the reality of the work environment hits them. Chinese graduates are being forced to change their perceptions of what might be considered “a good job,” says Professor Zhang.

In what could be seen as a “warning sign” for young people, “many companies in China, including many technology companies, have laid off large numbers of staff,” he adds.

The professor also states that Important sectors of the economy, which were once large employers, now offer poor conditions. Thus, decent opportunities are fading away.