China’s job fairs are making a comeback after being forced online by COVID-19 for three years, but subdued wages and less abundant offerings in sectors exposed to weakening external demand point to an uneven and guarded economic recovery.
Authorities announced hundreds of such events across the country this month, the latest sign that China is returning to its pre-COVID-19 way of life and that youth unemployment, a major headache for Beijing, could ease from its near 20 percent peak.
In a country of 1.4 billion people, job fairs are one of the most efficient ways for employers and workers to connect.
Photo: Reuters
Although attendees said that their long-awaited return is encouraging, some were not brimming with confidence.
“I only pray for a stable job, and do not have high salary expectations,” said Liu Liangliang, 24, who was looking for a job in a hotel or property management company at a fair in Beijing on Thursday.
“The COVID outbreak has hurt many people. There will be more jobseekers battling for offers this year,” Liu said.
Anxiety over employment anxiety is widespread is widespread.
A survey of about 50,000 white-collar workers published on Thursday by Zhaopin (招聘), one of China’s biggest recruiting firms, showed that 47.3 percent of respondents were worried they might lose their jobs this year, up from 39.8 percent a year earlier.
About 60 percent cited the “uncertain economic environment” as the main factor affecting their confidence, up from 48.4 percent last year.
Job confidence of those working in consumer-facing sectors, which are recovering faster from a low base, was higher than in sectors such as manufacturing, affected by weakening external demand, or property, which has only just started to show tentative signs of stabilizing, the survey showed.
A human resources manager at Beijing Xiahang Jianianhua Hotel, who only gave his surname Zhang, said his company had three times more job openings than last year, as Chinese resumed traveling.
By contrast, Jin Chaofeng, whose company exports outdoor rattan furniture, said he has no plans to add to his payroll, as orders from abroad are slowing.
“People in my industry are waiting and seeing, prudently,” he said, adding that he plans to cut production by 20 to 30 percent next month from a year earlier.
HSBC Holdings PLC chief Asia economist Frederic Neumann expects the service and manufacturing sectors to run at vastly different speeds this year, but said that overall employment in China should grow.
“Restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues are now scrambling to hire staff. This is especially helpful for younger workers,” Neumann said. “The youth unemployment rate should start to fall in the coming months.”
China’s economy grew 3 percent last year, in one of its weakest performances in nearly half a century. Policymakers are expected to aim for growth of about 5 percent, which would still be below the pre-COVID-19 pace.
That’s partly because the pain caused by stringent disease prevention rules persists.
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