When Hua (25) graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics three years ago, she saw her classmates take up nice jobs at banks and private companies. It all seemed natural. Hua herself continued to study: in two months she will receive her master’s degree. But now the beautiful jobs are no longer up for grabs. Times have changed, so Hua has changed her goal: to take a government exam and earn a place in the civil service.
“I was so naive, I wanted to keep studying and get a higher degree,” says Hua, who studies in Nanjing, a provincial capital in southern China. In order not to jeopardize her chance at a government job, she only wants to be in the newspaper with her first name. ‘But now the competition is much greater. Before the pandemic, you could start working at a bank with a bachelor’s degree. Now, even with a master’s degree from a top university, you can’t be sure of a job interview.’
Hua is unlucky: she enters the job market in what has been declared by Chinese experts as ‘the hardest year ever to start as a starter’. This year 10.76 million Chinese will graduate, 18 percent more than last year, while the number of vacancies has decreased by 4.5 percent due to lockdowns and political interventions. In addition, more and more Chinese students abroad return immediately after graduation: 1.1 million this year. As a result, the competition is fierce.
The ‘iron rice bowl’: a job as a civil servant
For Chinese young people, who grew up with double economic growth, it is a hard awakening. When they started their studies, there were still plenty of jobs. But the growth sectors of the past (internet, tutoring, real estate) were restricted by the government last year, and the new ones (high-tech, green energy) are still under construction. Many companies are also suffering from the lockdowns. In March – normally the ‘golden month’ for first-time job seekers – youth unemployment rose to 16 percent. Four years ago it was 10.4 percent.
Many young Chinese are seeking refuge in the old, familiar ‘iron rice bowl’: a permanent job in the government sector, which offers lifelong job security. To do this, they have to take government exams. 2.12 million candidates registered for this year’s national exam, 35 percent more than last year. There are 6.6 million candidates for the national and provincial exams together this year, 41 percent more than in 2018.
A job ‘in the system’, as the Chinese call it, often yields a modest salary, but above all offers security in uncertain times. ‘The compensation is okay,’ says Hua, who, as a young woman, wants to stand on her own two feet. ‘It won’t make me rich, but it’s enough to lead a stable life. You do not have to work on weekends, you enjoy good social security and receive a high housing allowance. Maybe I can even buy my own house.’ Incidentally, some Chinese officials have to work a lot of overtime, especially if they are involved in the fight against the epidemic.
20,813 candidates applied for a job at the post office in Tibet
But with so many candidates, the government exams are pressing. To help more people find work, millions of new government job openings have been created, some of which are reserved for young graduates. But the number of candidates is growing faster. In this year’s national exam, there were 2.12 million participants for 31,200 jobs: a success rate of 1 in 68. Twenty years ago, that was 1 in 16.
In provincial exams, often hundreds or even thousands of candidates compete for one position. The most coveted government job opening this year was a post office job in Tibet that required no qualifications, with 20,813 applicants applying.
Hua also feels the competition is increasing. She had previously participated in a national and a provincial exam, but failed each time. Now she’s preparing for a city-level exam, where the bar is a little lower. “If you wanted a job in the system three years ago, 120 points were enough,” she says, referring to the first round, a written test with a maximum score of 200. “Now even with 140 points you are not sure whether you pass the writing test.’
Popularity of government jobs is a signal of the weakening of the private sector
Hua studied for three months for her previous exams, now she thinks she should take six months for it. With questions about mathematics, language, but also politics and ideology, the test requires a lot of factual knowledge. ‘The library is full of boys and girls studying for government exams from early in the morning until late at night. My feeling is that the economy is going down, and everyone wants to participate. The competition is getting fiercer.’
Many economists are concerned about the increasing popularity of government jobs. They see it as a signal of the weakening of the private sector, which has been the main driver of growth and innovation in China in recent decades. Economists are sad to see that even the most highly educated students have recourse to a safe civil service life, where they often make insufficient use of their knowledge and talent.
Due to fierce competition in government exams, civil servant jobs are increasingly going to overqualified candidates. In a Beijing city district — the lowest rung of the civil service — 95 percent of new civil servants were found to have master’s or doctoral degrees earlier this month. The position of community worker – the lowest post – went to a PhD student from the renowned Peking University. The most read comment on Chinese social media: what a huge waste of talent.