China’s economy continues to decline, causing huge impacts on businesses and making the job market increasingly challenging. Recently, an article written by a recent graduate on a job-seeking website titled “Finding a Job in Beijing is No Longer a Salary Issue” has struck a chord with numerous people.
The article revealed a sense of desperation as the author stated, “I’ve been in Beijing for a month since graduation, sent out nearly 200 resumes, interviewed at seven or eight companies, yet I have not received a single job offer.” Initially hopeful about being able to afford rent and living expenses, the author now finds themselves lowering their expectations drastically, realizing that even when they lower their bottom line, companies still do not want to hire them.
On July 14th, the topic labeled “Finding a Job is No Longer a Salary Issue” trended on Weibo, garnering significant attention. Many netizens shared their own personal stories in response.
“It’s truly not about the salary anymore, it’s about whether you can find a job or not!””In the past, our research and development positions were mainly filled by master’s graduates from universities like Southeast University, Nanjing University, Zhejiang University, China Electric Power University, and Xi’an Jiaotong University. But this year, to my surprise, there are two masters from Peking University in the department next to ours… it’s the first time I’ve seen something like this in over a decade.”
“Finding a job nowadays is really not about the salary anymore. There are too many people with higher qualifications and more experience than us, making the competition fierce and job opportunities scarce. The job market is really tough. My girlfriend has been job hunting for half a year with no progress…”
“I’ve been working since 20 years ago, switching a few jobs along the way, and the feeling I get is that finding a job gets harder each year. In the past, even without certificates or much experience, I could still get some interview invitations from medium-sized companies. But now, there are hardly any interviews, let alone job offers. It used to be that whether I could be employed or not, at least there were interviews, but now, there’s hardly any, let alone getting hired.”
“The reality is harsh. At my small company, simply by offering weekends off and providing internship opportunities with social security benefits, when hiring an office clerk, I received no less than 500 resumes, including many postgraduate students, though the majority were vocational and undergraduate degree holders.”
“Finding a job nowadays is indeed not just about negotiating salaries. In the current job market environment, many people are experiencing the inevitable transition from ‘searching for a good job’ to ‘just finding a job.’ As opportunities decrease and individuals face harsh conditions of cost-cutting and multitasking roles, people are forced to lower their standards, just to secure a livelihood. It’s not that people have become more easily satisfied, but the circumstances force compromise upon them.”