2017 labour market for college graduates
| |
Difficult and very challenging
|
40.8%
|
Difficult, but acceptable
|
47.0%
|
The market was OK
|
9.4%
|
Not difficult at all
|
0.8%
|
Not clear
|
2.0%
|
The good news is that the overall labour is showing signs of strengthening in line with overall economy gaining momentum. This has been shown by the CIER index compiled by Zhaopin and China Institute for Employment Research (CIER) at Renmin University, which tracks the ratio of job vacancies to job seekers in a variety of industries and cities across the country, rose to 1.91 in Q117, compared to 1.71 in Q116. The rising index is an indication the labour market had improved with the economy.
However, the labour market is strengthening unevenly. The record size of this year's graduating class is posing unique challenges for graduates. With such a large graduating class this year, new job seekers still face a daunting challenge, especially those from less well-known universities outside the top tier.
In trying to secure a job, 41.3% of graduates submitted 11 to 30 resumes this year, and 11.7% even sent more than 51 resumes to potential employers. It was also more difficult to get interview opportunities this year. Zhaopin found that 31.9% of college graduates landed one to three interviews, and 27.1% had four to five interviews. About 8.3% of graduates did not get any interviews this year, up from 3% last year.
By the end of April this year, 27.7% of college graduates had not received a job offer, higher than the 24.8% seen last year. Meanwhile, just over half of the graduates (50.2%) had received one to three job offers, lower than the 55.4% last year. For graduates who had job offers but declined to sign contracts, the top reasons were "salary/welfare did not meet expectation" (35.5%), "did not like position/work" (32.4%), and "not satisfied with work location" (27.7%). To help address some of these challenges, Zhaopin has developed the National Employability Test to both help graduates and employers identify suitable talents.
Job offers for college graduates
| |
No offer
|
27.7%
|
One offer
|
15.5%
|
Two offers
|
18.9%
|
Three offers
|
15.8%
|
Four offers
|
9.1%
|
Five offers
|
6.0%
|
Six offers
|
4.9%
|
Seven or more offers
|
2.0%
|
- About 40.8% of graduates believe the labour market has been "very challenging" this year, up from 36.5% last year. A further 47% of graduates thought the job market was acceptable, even though difficult.
- A quarter of college graduates (26.7%) signed employment contracts this year, down from 35.4% last year.
- The average monthly salary for college graduates declined by 16% this year to RMB4,014.
- The average monthly salary for male graduates was RMB4,374, higher than RMB3,624 for female graduates.
- The IT/telecom/electronics/Internet sector offered the highest monthly salary of RMB4,867, followed by RMB4,692 in the financial sector and RMB4,457 for the traffic/transportation/logistics/warehousing sector.
- For the first time since Zhaopin started the survey in 2014, "opportunities to learn and grow" overtook "good salary and welfare" as the most important factor for college graduates in assessing jobs.
Reasons for not accepting job offers
|
|
Salary/welfare did not meet expectation
|
35.5%
|
Did not like position/work
|
32.4%
|
Not satisfied with work location
|
27.7%
|
Waiting for better offers
|
22.2%
|
Poor outlook for career development
|
21.2%
|
Work environment did not meet expectation
|
19.6%
|
Poor industry outlook
|
11.1%
|
Choosing among multiple offers
|
10.1%
|
Company reputation did not meet expectation
|
6.7%
|
Ready to sign contract
|
6.4%
|
Startup company with high risk
|
5.7%
|
Both the expected and actual monthly salary for college graduates declined this year, Zhaopin survey found. The average expected monthly salary was RMB4,875 this year, a drop of RMB110 from last year. The average actual monthly salary for college graduates declined by RMB751 to reach RMB4,014 this year.
Average monthly salary for college graduates
|
||
Expected (RMB)
|
Actual (RMB)
|
|
2014
|
4,357
|
3,945
|
2015
|
5,265
|
4,793
|
2016
|
4,985
|
4,765
|
2017
|
4,875
|
4,014
|
The average actual monthly salary for male graduates was RMB4,374, higher than RMB3,624 for female graduates. The IT/telecom/electronics/internet sector offered the highest monthly salary of RMB4,867, followed by RMB4,692 from the financial sector and RMB4,457 from the traffic/transportation/logistics/warehousing sector.
Sectors with highest average monthly salaries for
college graduates (RMB) |
|
IT/telecom/electronics/Internet
|
4,867
|
Financial
|
4,692
|
Traffic/transportation/logistics/warehousing
|
4,457
|
Among graduates who already signed employment contracts, 33.5% choose to work in first-tier cities and 33.1% would go to emerging first-tier cities. Emerging first-tier cities were actually more attractive to college graduates as 37.5% of them wanted jobs there.
Cities selected by college graduates
|
||
Preferred
|
Actual
|
|
First-tier cities
|
29.9%
|
33.5%
|
Emerging first-tier cities
|
37.5%
|
33.1%
|
Second-tier cities
|
21.3%
|
19.0%
|
Third-tier cities and below
|
11.3%
|
14.4%
|
The IT/telecom/electronics/Internet sector was the most attractive sector with 19.4% of college graduates preferred to work in this field. One in five (20.3%) found related jobs.
Sectors selected by Chinese college graduates
|
||
Preferred
|
Actual
|
|
IT/telecom/electronics/Internet
|
19.4%
|
20.3%
|
Culture/media/entertainment/sports
|
9.6%
|
3.3%
|
Financial
|
9.3%
|
7.8%
|
Professional service (consulting/finance and accounting/legal, advertising/PR, authentication/outsourcing)
|
9.1%
|
5.6%
|
Real estate/construction
|
8.0%
|
11.2%
|
Services (healthcare/nursing, beauty, hotel/restaurant, travel/vacation)
|
6.9%
|
8.6%
|
Automobile/manufacturing/processing
|
6.7%
|
15.3%
|
Trade/wholesale/retail/leasing, FMCG/durable consumer goods
|
6.2%
|
7.5%
|
Education/arts and crafts
|
5.7%
|
4.3%
|
Government/non-profit organisation
|
5.0%
|
0.7%
|
Energy/mineral/environmental protection
|
3.4%
|
3.6%
|
Traffic/transportation/logistics/warehousing
|
2.9%
|
4.2%
|
Farming/forestry/animal husbandry/fishery
|
0.9%
|
1.2%
|
Others
|
7.0%
|
6.5%
|
Students planning to go on to further education in China dropped to 6.3% this year, from 16.5% last year. Students planning for further education overseas also declined to 3.4% this year, from 4.8% last year. Nearly 10% of graduates said they do not intend to work immediately after graduation. They would like to take some time off to travel, volunteer, or spend time with parents.
Intentions after graduation
|
|
Looking for a job
|
73.5%
|
Further education in China
|
6.3%
|
Further education overseas
|
3.4%
|
Start own business
|
6.3%
|
Take some time off
|
9.8%
|
Others
|
0.7%
|
About 55.9% of graduates preferred jobs with "opportunities to learn and grow", while 52.2% chose "good salary and welfare". It was the first time since Zhaopin started the survey in 2014 that "opportunities to learn and grow" has overtaken "good salary and welfare" as the most important factor for assessing a job.
Job aspirations for Chinese college graduates
|
|
Opportunities to learn and grow
|
55.9%
|
Good salary and welfare
|
52.2%
|
Growth potential of industry/company
|
34.9%
|
Harmonious company environment
|
25.2%
|
Fit with personal interests
|
22.8%
|
Room to perform with abilities
|
20.5%
|
Suitable position
|
19.1%
|
Clear career development path
|
17.8%
|
Balance of work and life
|
16.2%
|
Freedom in workstyle
|
13.5%
|
Others
|
0.3%
|
College graduates also said they would work overtime when necessary to complete urgent projects, finish their own work, or improve their skills. About 40.3% of graduates would accept two to five hours of overtime a week, and 23.1% could work overtime five to eight hours a week.
Acceptable amount of overtime for Chinese college graduates
|
|
Under two hours a week
|
24.5%
|
Two to five hours a week
|
40.3%
|
Five to eight hours a week
|
23.1%
|
Eight to 10 hours a week
|
8.6%
|
No overtime
|
3.5%
|
Zhaopin has over 135 million registered users** at various stages of their careers. In the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016, approximately 36.9 million job postings*** were placed on Zhaopin's platform by 509,813 unique customers.
*Zhaopin's survey analyses the employability of college graduates based on their perceptions of the labour market, job-hunting efforts and results. About 93,420 college graduates participated in the survey this year, including junior college graduates, undergraduates and graduate students.
**A "unique customer" refers to a customer that purchases the company's online recruitment services during a specified period. Zhaopin makes adjustments for multiple purchases by the same customer to avoid double-counting. Each customer is assigned a unique identification number in the company's information management system. Affiliates and branches of a given customer may, under certain circumstances, be counted as separate unique customers.
***Zhaopin calculates the number of job postings by counting the number of newly placed job postings during each respective period. Job postings that were placed prior to a specified period - even if available during such period - are not counted as job postings for such period. Any particular job posting placed on the company's website may include more than one job opening or position.
