China’s young workers – overqualified and in low-paying jobs

China is already a country where a high school master has a master’s degree in physics; cleaner is qualified in environmental planning; a delivery driver studied philosophy, and a doctoral student at the prestigious Tsinghua University eventually applied for a job as an auxiliary police officer.

These are real cases in a struggling economy – and it’s not hard to find more like them.

“My dream job was to work in investment banking,” Sun Zhang says as he prepares to start his shift as a waiter at a cooking restaurant in the southern city of Nanjing.

The 25-year-old recently completed a master’s degree in finance. He hoped to “make a lot of money” in a high-paying role, but added: “I’ve been looking for that kind of work, but with no good results.”

China churns out millions of graduates every year, but in some fields there simply aren’t enough jobs for them.

The economy is struggling and stalling in key sectors, including real estate and manufacturing.

Youth unemployment was rising by 20% before the way the figures were measured was changed to make the situation look better. In August 2024 it was still 18.8%. The latest figure for November fell to 16.1%.

Many graduates who have found it difficult to find work in their chosen field of study are now doing work well below what they are qualified for, leading to criticism from family and friends.

When Sun Zhang became a waiter, it was met with displeasure by his parents.

“My family’s opinion is a big concern for me. Still, I studied for many years and went to a pretty good school,” he says.

He says his family is embarrassed by his choice of job and would prefer to try to become a civil servant or official, but he adds, “it’s my choice.”

Yet he has a secret plan. He will use his time as a waiter to learn the restaurant business so that he can eventually open his own establishment.

He thinks that if he ends up running a successful business, critics in his family will have to change their stance.

“The job situation is really, really challenging in mainland China, so I think a lot of young people really need to readjust their expectations,” said Professor Zhang Jun of the City University of Hong Kong.

She says many students seek higher degrees to have better prospects, but then the reality of the work environment hits them.

“The job market was really tough,” said Wu Dan, 29, who is currently an intern at a sports injury massage clinic in Shanghai.

“For many of my graduate classmates, this is their first time looking for a job, and very few of them have found one.”

She also didn’t think she would end up here with a finance degree from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

She previously worked at a futures trading company in Shanghai, where she specialized in agricultural products.

When she returned to the mainland after completing her studies in Hong Kong, she wanted to work in a private equity firm and received some offers, but was not satisfied with the conditions.

That she accepted neither and instead began training in sports medicine was not welcomed by her family.

“They thought I had such a good job before, and my education is pretty competitive. They didn’t understand why I chose a low-barrier job that required me to do physical work for little money.”

She admits she couldn’t survive in Shanghai on her current salary if it weren’t for the fact that her partner owns their home.

At first, she didn’t know anyone who was supportive of her current career, but her mother came forward after recently treating her for a sore back, greatly reducing the pain she was experiencing.

Now the one-time finance student says she feels life working in the investment world isn’t really for her.

She says she’s interested in sports injuries, likes the job and one day wants to open her own clinic.

Chinese graduates are being forced to change their perceptions of what can be considered a “good position”, says Prof. Jan.

In what could be seen as a “warning sign” for young people, “a lot of companies in China, including a lot of tech companies, have laid off a lot of staff,” she adds.

She also says that significant areas of the economy that were once major employers of graduates are offering substandard conditions and decent opportunities in these areas are disappearing altogether.

As they consider what to do in the future, unemployed graduates are also turning to the film and television industry.

Big-budget films need lots of extras to fill their scenes, and in China’s famous film town of Hengdian, southwest of Shanghai, there are plenty of young people looking for acting work.

“I basically stand next to the main character as eye candy. I’m seen next to the main actors, but I don’t have lines,” says Wu Xinghai, who studied electronic information engineering and played a bodyguard in a drama.

The 26-year-old laughs that his good looks helped him become an extra.

He says people often come to Hengdian and work for just a few months at a time. He says it’s a temporary solution for him, too, until he finds something permanent. “I don’t make a lot of money, but I’m calm and I feel free.”

“That’s the situation in China, isn’t it? The moment you graduate, you become unemployed,” said Li, who did not want to give his first name.

He graduated in film directing and screenwriting and also signed up to work as an extra for a few months.

“I came here to look for a job while I’m still young. When I’m old, I’ll get a steady job.”

But many fear they will never find a decent job and may have to settle for a role different from what they imagined.

A lack of confidence in the trajectory of the Chinese economy means that young people often do not know what the future holds.

Wu Dan says that even her friends who work can feel quite lost.

“They are quite confused and think the future is unclear. Those who have a job are not happy with it. They don’t know how long they can hold onto these positions. And if they lose their current job, what else can they do?”

She says she’ll just “go with the flow and gradually explore what I really want to do.”