Beijing: High school dropout David Tong was brought to America by his parents to learn freestyle football. Before the coronavirus pandemic began in late 2019, he moved back to Beijing. He joined a gym at the age of 21 as a fitness coach, after failing to find employment in China in the specialized field of performing with football. After three years he lost that job. According to Tong, "the business was on and off as part of the Covid containment measures." "After the manager indicated repeatedly that the club needed to reduce costs, I was not surprised to be fired.
"Last month, when the time came, I couldn't even imagine it. After all it was my first full-time job. After a few seconds my first thought was, "What am I going to tell my parents?" They would be horrified. By.
His parents did not fully process the news for several weeks. Tong claimed he was relieved to a great extent by the fact that many youth, including children of friends, neighbors and relatives, were unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, disrupting business operations and negatively impacting the economy.
It's a universal thing, I told him," Tong said. Eventually, he stopped pointing fingers at me and labeling me a loser. I also resolved to keep looking for work. Haven't found one. As China increases lockdowns and other measures to combat the highly contagious Omicron variant, the unemployment rate for people aged 16 to 24 is rising sharply this year. This age group includes most high school and college graduates.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the youth unemployment rate rose from 15.3% in January to 19.9% in July, meaning that one in five youth in mainland China is unemployed. The rate has risen to its highest level ever since Beijing began publishing the youth unemployment index in January 2018, when it was quite low at 9.6%.
Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the youth labor market. According to a report released this month by the International Labor Organization of the United Nations, 73 million youths will be unemployed worldwide this year, which is 6 million more than in the pre-Covid era. By the end of the year, 14.9% of young workers in the Asia-Pacific region are predicted to still be looking for work, which is in line with the global average according to the Labor Agency's predictions.
Brutal COVID-19 containment measures and a record number of university graduates entering the job market are to blame for China's high youth unemployment rate. According to NBS spokesman Fu Lingui, "Companies that are struggling because of the COVID pandemic are less able to take on new employees. The service sector, an important source of employment for young people, is slowly recovering in the meantime." Used to be." The Service Production Index fell 0.3% in the first seven months of the current year compared to a year earlier. COVID-19 had a significant impact on the tourism, hospitality and catering industries. Additionally, amid government-led industry-wide action, private educational and Internet service providers reduced hiring or layoffs.
First-time job seekers, school dropouts and recent graduates with little experience are vulnerable in the job market everywhere, but this is especially true during tough economic times. Many European countries entered the Great Recession more than ten years ago, crippled by the debt crisis caused by the collapse of the American financial system. Youth in the European Union were most affected by unemployment in 2009 in Spain, Greece and Italy, where it reached more than 40% before economic recovery began in 2014. Spain's youth unemployment rate reached 37.8%. Greece's youth unemployment rate was 25.8%.
In the extreme case of Spain, where its GDP decreased by about 9% between 2009 and 2013, the proportion of workers under the age of 25 without jobs exceeded 50% in 2012, 2013 and 2014. As a result, large numbers of Spaniards—mostly young, unmarried adults—migrated in search of employment. Both the large number of recent graduates from universities in China and the country's recent economic downturn have made the issue worse. A record number of university graduates entered the workforce this summer - 10 million - up from 9.09 million last year, even though this year's official target of economic growth - 5.5% - is expected to be widely missed.
Economists predict that the employment outlook for young people will remain bleak, despite China lacking a deadline to phase out its COVID-19 containment measures.
This summer, 21-year-old Qian Lan received a diploma from a college in Nanjing, a city in eastern China. Before graduating she spent six months as a secretary in a furniture group buying company. Last month, he lost his job. According to the Chinese proverb, one should look for a horse while riding a donkey. I fit that description," Qian said. Even after accepting a position with the group purchasing company, she continued to look for a better employer, but with no success.
It is very difficult to find a good job. Most businesses are not looking for a "green hand". For those who hire recent graduates, a bachelor's degree appears to be the minimum. My educational background is not competitive at all," she declared. He was comforted by the fact that he at least had secure employment. However, business failed last month when the lockdown forced several furniture manufacturers in the Yangtze River Delta to halt production, forcing them to lose prepayments made to their suppliers.
Kian has sent his resume nearly 100 times since then. He hasn't heard from anyone yet. "Every night when I can't sleep, I look up at the ceiling and think about who I am. I feel like I'm just unlucky. COVID followed me for three years while I was in college. And COVID took over my work made impossible. "I promised myself that someday I would get a job," she said. I'm not completely out of options, am I? A 44-year-old migrant worker from central China's Henan province believes his 18-year-old son has no chance of success. Zhao Sr. worked in Beijing's home decoration industry for 20 years before becoming wealthy. After buying a small apartment on the outskirts of Beijing last year, he sent his son back to his hometown to reunite.
Zhao said, "I believe he should be hired. He's not interested in interior design. So I set up a job at a hair salon for him."
The salon closed operations for two months in an auxiliary internship as Beijing tightened controls to contain the outbreak in May. The limits were lifted a month later, but the shop owner chose to close it permanently due to lack of cash. "My son thought the job was boring and he wouldn't do another job," Zhao said. He now spends most of his time in bed playing video games, just like he did when we were in home quarantine. Except when he needs something from me, he rarely talks to me and often ignores me.
The Chinese government attaches great importance to employment because it has a significant impact on social stability. China has promised to add more than 11 million new jobs to the urban sector this year and maintain an urban unemployment rate of 5.5%. NBS reports that the rate was 5.4% at the end of last month.
Additionally, the government aims to motivate graduates to set up their own businesses and state-owned companies to hire recent graduates.
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