This year about 2,800,000 young people graduated from college,
an increase of 680,000 from last year. The situation is making
job-hunting increasingly difficult, and many are joining the
“non-employment” group. This group made up 5 percent of the total
graduates at the end of 2002, but the rate is much higher this
year, according to officials in charge of job placement for college
graduates in Chongqing.
In recent years, taking the graduate school entrance examination
has become a growing trend, and it is now the primary reason for
non-employment. In Chongqing, the number of new graduates taking
grad school entrance exams has been increasing steadily: 12,000 in
2002, 15,000 in 2003 and 19,000 in 2004, according to Dou Xiaoming,
of the Chongqing Municipal Admissions Office.
Many other “non-employeds” plan to study abroad after
graduation, hoping to broaden their vision and improve their
self-esteem. The US has long been a first choice of study
locations, although in recent years it has become much more
difficult to obtain a visa.
Xiao Wang, a 2004 graduate from Shanghai
International Studies University, paid 7,000 yuan in
compensation to a company with which he had signed an employment
agreement when he got an admission notice from an American
university.
“I signed the agreement with the company just in case I failed
to get any admission notice or the visa. Actually I have made up my
mind to go abroad,” Xiao Wang said.
Other non-employeds simply refuse to look for a job because they
have or want to have someone to depend on, such as their parents or
future spouse.
Xiao Lu is a graduate from the computer department of a famous
university who thinks work is boring. She is operating, with a few
Internet friends, a personal website that is entirely sponsored by
her father, who runs his own business.
Some female graduates decide to get married after graduation and
become full-time homemakers, depending on their husbands for
financial support.
Fei Yufang, director of the graduate employment service and
career development center of Shanghai Jiao Tong
University, said the emergence of the non-employment group
shows the multiplicity in the choices graduates are making.
Graduates now have the freedom to make their own choices,
according to Fei. Many want to broaden their knowledge and get a
higher degree before settling down to work, which is reasonable.
However, others refuse to find a job just because they are afraid
to face difficulties and challenges.
(China.org.cn by Yuan Fang, August 2, 2004)