BEIJING/HONG KONG, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Having failed to find his dream job at a Chinese internet company upon graduation, Peter Liu settled for a role in a state library where there is so little need for his participation that he spends his time studying for a change in his career path.
Liu got the librarian job after a government-led campaign to secure temporary work for graduates, which analysts describe as a short-term solution to preserve social stability in a slowing economy with little on offer for young Chinese.
On Wednesday, the statistics bureau is expected to omit for the fourth consecutive month the release of youth unemployment data, suspended in July after reaching a record 21.3% in June, just as 11.6 million fresh graduates were entering the job market.
The total take-up of short-term jobs and internships remains unknown, but social media posts commenting on the selection process and discussing career options are frequent and analysts expect such roles will be in demand in a slowing economy.
Still, the state sector - which provides a fifth of the urban jobs in China - can only temporarily alleviate economic pressure for a portion of university graduates through such campaigns, economists say, warning youth unemployment remains a major long-term headache for Beijing.
“Youth unemployment will stay with us for quite a long time, at least for five-to-10 years,” said Wang Jun, chief economist at Huatai Asset Management, adding the temporary jobs are “a short-term fix for stability, to relieve social conflicts brought by joblessness.”
The original article contains 724 words, the summary contains 253 words. Saved 65%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!