China’s economy is worsening, leading to a harsh job market for young people and a growing trend of over-education. Recently, a car parts factory in Harbin sparked controversy by requiring a doctoral degree for a job offering a monthly salary of 3500 yuan.
The Harbin “Lilac Talent Week” recruitment event for the fall season in 2024 took place on September 12th and 13th at the Harbin Ice and Snow World Park. The event, according to the Heilongjiang government website, provided nearly 5,000 high-quality job positions in various industries such as advanced manufacturing, biomedicine, digital economy, education, material chemistry, banking, engineering, agriculture, and media.
This job fair covered positions at all educational levels and in various disciplines, with a demand for nearly 24,000 people. Over 30,000 individuals participated in the on-site recruitment activities on the first day.
At the event, the recruitment information from a company named “Harbin Fuling Automotive Parts Co., Ltd.” attracted public attention. The company was looking to hire 20 general workers, with no professional restrictions, but requiring candidates to hold a doctoral degree, aged between 18 to 50, and offering a monthly salary ranging from 3500 to 5000 yuan.
This news prompted discussions among netizens, with some questioning the appropriateness of offering a monthly salary of 3500 yuan for a doctoral degree holder and expressing concerns about the increasing devaluation of educational qualifications in the job market.
Public records show that Harbin Fuling Automotive Parts Co., Ltd., established on April 15th with a registered capital of 1 million RMB, is engaged in the manufacturing of automotive parts and accessories.
In recent years, with China’s economy continuing to decline and the unemployment rate rising, the issue of young graduates facing immediate unemployment has worsened. Job opportunities have shrunk, leading to an increasing trend of over-educated individuals.
According to data from the Chinese Ministry of Education, the number of candidates taking the graduate entrance examination reached a record high of 4.74 million in 2023, compared to 2.38 million in 2018. This surge in graduate candidates has contributed to a surplus of highly educated individuals facing employment challenges.
Psychology professor Ju Qiang from mainland China noted that the country has become a major producer of doctoral and master’s degree holders, resulting in a mismatch between supply and demand in the job market and high rates of unemployment among educated individuals.
The situation has led to notable instances like Shandong University hiring two master’s degree holders as apartment managers, the Second West China Hospital in Chengdu recruiting 34 nurses with master’s or doctoral degrees, and the Sichuan Information Vocational and Technical College recruiting security staff with graduate education qualifications.
As youth unemployment continues to rise in China, with millions of graduates joining the job market, the pressure on employment has escalated, presenting a significant challenge and potential threat to the stability of the Communist regime.
Analyst Yuan Bin commented that the influx of nearly 12 million university graduates this year will add immense pressure to China’s job market and could potentially become a combustible element endangering the stability of the regime.