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‘Can’t get no satisfaction,’ graduates say
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SIMON Wang, 22, just graduated from a first-tier university in Shanghai and landed a job in marketing at a state-owned company. This month, the young man got his first check — 2,850 yuan (US$454) net after paying medical and pension insurance and housing funds. He is below the 3,500-yuan threshold to pay income taxes.
“Can you believe that I am working for one of the top 500 global corporations? There is no way that I can make a living with such skimpy pay in Shanghai,” Wang tells Shanghai Daily.
Wang, from Fujian Province, is among 175,600 students who graduated in Shanghai this summer — 37,900 postgraduates, 89,100 graduates and 48,600 vocational college students — taking his first step toward being independent.
By the end of June, 72 percent of this group had accepted a job offer, been admitted to graduate studies or decided to go abroad, according to the Shanghai Education Commission.
As the number of graduates hit a new record high this year, landing a good job is more than difficult.
A survey by Ganji.com and Peking University released on Wednesday indicates that the employment rate of college graduates born after 1990 is a dismal 14.3 percent.
Based on data from 350,000 graduates, their expectation for monthly salary is in average 2,606 yuan, only 163 yuan higher than the actual figure. Last year, the gap between expectation and reality was twice that big.
College students in Shanghai are receiving the highest average starting salaries across China this year at 3,231 yuan, followed by Beijing at 3,109 yuan.
Although local governments have launched a series of preferential policies to encourage students to work in counties and rural towns, half of those getting jobs still tend to work in big cities like Shanghai, Beijing or Shenzhen, according to a survey by Beijing Youth Stress Management Service Center.
“During job hunting, graduating seniors need to be mentally prepared and have a balanced attitude,” says Zhang Haidong, a Shanghai University sociology professor. “You don’t have to find your ideal job at once. Lower your expectations and find a job that allows you to be independent and settle daily life issues.”
“I know I shouldn’t grumble about the salary,” Wang says. “After all, this job is a great opportunity for me, with a promising future. But just the moment when you see the payroll, it’s hard not to be defeated by the reality.”
Wang comes from a rich family and both his parents are successful businessmen. He is proud that he got this job without any family connections. But he has again turned to his parents for help.
His rent is 2,000 yuan a month for a 15-square-meter downtown flat, close to his office. Bills and other basic consumption cost at least 1,500 yuan a month.
“Plus I need the money for social activities, dating and having some fun occasionally,” Wang says.
At least during his first 6-month probationary period, Wang knows he will spend more than he earns. He is still using his father’s credit card.
Wang is not a rare case. The survey shows 30 percent of graduates born after 1990 have to rely on their parents. Many who insist on “living independently” actually still with their parents, saving a great deal of money on meals and rent.
A big reason for Wang remaining in Shanghai instead of going back to his hometown in Fujian is his girlfriend.
“It is romantic to strive together in a big city, sometimes feeling ourselves so small but so blessed to have each other,” says Wang.
For the young generation, love is front and center. Some 83 percent of men born after 1990 are willing to move to another city with their girlfriends to land a job.
John Zhu, 23, from East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai, started work three weeks ago at a leading pharmaceutical company as assistant sales director. The major concern for this top student in biomedical engineering is not the money but the challenge in reaching his ambition.
He complained of working overtime three days in row. But worse was the set of mindless tasks he was given — copying, printing, organizing unimportant files.
“It’s not that I have complaint affixing approximately 3,000 seals a week,” Zhu says. “As a rookie, I know I can’t handle anything that matters. But I want to learn things and get more experience by working with others.”
The same applies to Zhao Jiawen, who graduated from Renmin University of China in Beijing this year and now works for a major online trading company in Shanghai. Her relatively high monthly salary of 8,500 yuan doesn’t mean very much to the young woman.
“Sometimes work is boring,” she says. “You do the routines repeatedly every day without many challenges. If I am looking for a new job, its prospects and job content would appeal to me far more than the payment.”
The lack of aspiration to find a job has become a key problem for many graduates, according to Lu Jing, deputy director of the Shanghai Education Commission.
There are about 100,000 positions needed by graduates in Shanghai this year, with 170,000 job openings. Despite those seemingly rosy odds, the employment situation has not improved because many of those jobs don’t offer much.
“Forty percent of the employment opportunities are from small and medium-sized companies,” Lu says. “Since the salary and development can’t meet the expectations of graduates, some of them would rather stay at home instead of going to work.”
Figures show that by the end of June, 828 college graduates chose to be entrepreneurs, a 71-percent rise from last year.
Startups can get loans ranging from 500,000 yuan to 2 million yuan from the Shanghai Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.
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