Recently on the Suzhou local television news was a report about how difficult it is for University graduates to find jobs now. Actually, according to one University graduate I talked with, it’s been difficult for the past two years. Six years ago I remember the first crop of grads coming out into the working world as the first class the national government had doubled in size. The Powers That Be knew they would need more and better educated citizens, so opened up the number of seats in universities throughout the nation.

But the labor market has never been able to absorb the bulge of young go-getters. The graduate I talked with told me of a conversation she had overheard on a local bus. Two young ladies that had graduated from nursing programs at university couldn’t find work: in Suzhou and Shanghai. They were regretting having pursued their majors, as so many students apparently have. The young lady with whom I was talking about the state of employment prospects has met quite a number of students who in lieu of being able to find jobs after university return to school to sit examinations for entirely new majors. Law, in particular, seems to have become a popular re-major. However, the students do not attend classes; they merely pay for the books and sittings at the quarterly examinations.

 

Job-seekers visit booths of companies at a job fair held for graduates in Nanjing,
Jiangsu province in East China, November 20, 2008.

Another news report - directly after the first - revealed that the next round of University entrance exams are going to be more difficult than previous rounds. The Government feels it needs to reduce university rolls.

So, how tough is it really for grads to find work in the Yangtze River Delta? The first Suzhou TV news report gave air-time to a government official extolling the virtues of opportunities for new grads to teach school in Northwest China. Xinjiang. Where no one can hear you scream.

 

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