Chinese graduates face tough job-hunting season

BEIJING - This year's job-hunting season in China is coming to an end, but Li Weibin has yet to find a satisfactory position.

"I have been looking for jobs for months in Beijing, but have had no luck because many companies only want people with experience," said Li, a new graduate from China Youth University of Political Studies, a top university in China.

"Besides, there are fewer job positions this year," the 22-year-old said.

Like Li, many Chinese graduates are in the midst of a "job-hunting crisis" as a record number of young people search for jobs amid a slowing economy.

China's college graduates reached a record high of 7.49 million this year, up by 220,000 compared with 2014, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Meanwhile, sagging economic growth means companies have generally decreased demand for new recruits this year.

These factors have made this year's job-hunting season, the time between April and June when fresh graduates begin their search for employment, one of the toughest in history.

According to Zhou Xiaodong, an official with Changzhou University on the eastern seaboard of Jiangsu province, though the number of companies looking for new recruits at universities has not decreased this year, the positions are generally down by 20 to 30 percent.

"Many big companies, particularly State-own enterprises, have basically slashed their demand for new recruits this year, with some even cutting demand by half," said Chen Yongli, a recruitment official with Peking University.

Company heads are also getting increasingly picky when looking for talent, dealing a big blow to many fresh graduates.

"They want people with experience or graduates from top universities," said Li Liang, a journalism graduate from Hebei University in North China's Hebei province.

The 24-year-old said he has spent more than 10,000 yuan ($1,611) on accommodation during job hunting in the past half a year in Beijing, but so far "has not found a dream job."

"I plan to go back home, because I feel like a loser here," Li said.