{"id":473864,"date":"2025-10-04T15:48:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T15:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/473864\/"},"modified":"2025-10-04T15:48:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T15:48:41","slug":"how-chinas-youth-are-navigating-a-jobless-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/473864\/","title":{"rendered":"How China\u2019s youth are navigating a jobless future"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"share\"\/\"Li<\/p>\n

Shanghai Correspondent, Lianhe Zaobao<\/p>\n

Translated by Candice Chan<\/p>\n

China\u2019s young graduates, adrift in a tough job market, are seeking solace in youth hostels and spiritual practices like tarot and astrology. As employment pressures mount, can new social structures offer them purpose and belonging in an uncertain future? Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Li Kang speaks to these hostel dwellers and academics to find out more about how young people are coping in a difficult environment.<\/p>\n

Before closing her suitcase, 21-year-old Li Qian (pseudonym) carefully places her graduation certificate, degree certificate and household registration booklet on top, checking repeatedly that they do not get crumpled.<\/p>\n

Just a few months ago, the fresh graduate had lugged all her belongings to Shanghai in search of work, staying at a youth hostel in the city centre. In mid-August, she was once again packing her things, preparing to leave.<\/p>\n

As for what comes next, Li Qian hasn\u2019t had time to think it through. Standing at the door of the shared eight-bed dorm room, she spoke quickly, a hint of urgency in her voice: \u201cI\u2019ll go home first, then see if there are any opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

As employment pressures mount, youth hostels in China\u2019s big cities have gradually shifted from being stopovers for backpackers to temporary havens for jobseekers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Youth hostels: temporary havens for jobseekers<\/p>\n

The youth hostel, charging 80 RMB (US$11) for a bed per night, is the accommodation for many jobseekers like Li Qian from across China. Some move out after finding work, some settle in for a longer stay, but many more, like Li Qian, remain only briefly before quietly leaving again.<\/p>\n

As employment pressures mount, youth hostels in China\u2019s big cities have gradually shifted from being stopovers for backpackers to temporary havens for jobseekers. They also reflect the harsh realities faced by today\u2019s youth. Under an increasingly severe job market, young people in China are like floating duckweed, swept along by the tide of the times \u2014 without roots to anchor them nor any shore to rely on.<\/p>\n

Sensing this uncertainty, when 28-year-old Kun first entered the workforce two years ago, he chose to stay long term in hostels. His reasoning was simple: renting an apartment requires at least one month\u2019s deposit plus one month\u2019s rent, which means a stay of at least two months. In contrast, living in a hostel meant that even if he were laid off, he could pack up and leave at any time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In July this year, Kun moved from Shenzhen to Shanghai, joining the ranks of hostel-dwelling jobseekers. On his first night, he immediately began revising his portfolio, preparing to look for a job as a designer. In Shanghai \u2014 where spending feels like \u201cburning through Shanghai currency\u201d \u2014 he stuck to a strict food budget of no more than 50 RMB per day. At this pace, his \u201creserves\u201d could last another six months.<\/p>\n

As for whether he could find a job within six months, Kun sounded fairly certain in his first interview: \u201cShanghai already has the most job opportunities of any city. If I still can\u2019t find one despite working this hard, then I\u2019ll just go home. There\u2019s no point in struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n

From lively to quiet over past ten years<\/p>\n

For 34-year-old hostel regular K, today\u2019s youth hostels feel very different compared to a decade ago. He shared that people used to stay in hostels to make friends and exchange stories from all over the country. Now, with more jobseekers checking in and improved facilities, the atmosphere has become much quieter.<\/p>\n

At the Rumianke Youth Hostel near Shanghai\u2019s Jiangsu Road, there are four-, six- and eight-bed rooms. Each room, about 20 square metres, has a shared bathroom and shower. The bunk bed, less than two square metres, is the only private space residents have. Although many people stay together, they tacitly stagger their washing times and avoid disturbing one another.<\/p>\n

\n

… nearly one in five young people outside of school is unemployed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The most popular spot in the common area is a row of individual study desks facing the wall. Every evening, these seats are filled with young people hard at work \u2014 reading, revising resumes or preparing for interviews. Each person is absorbed in their own task, and there\u2019s hardly any conversation to be heard.<\/p>\n

Behind this change is the intensifying pressure of job competition over the past decade. Since China\u2019s government first released youth unemployment data in 2018, the figure has climbed from just over 10% to a record 21.3% in 2023. In December of that year, the government adjusted the calculation by excluding students still in school, which lowered the rate to below 20%.<\/p>\n

However, according to the latest figures from China\u2019s National Bureau of Statistics, released on 17 September, the unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds not in school rose to 18.9% in August, the highest level since the statistical adjustment. In other words, nearly one in five young people outside of school is unemployed.<\/p>\n

\"icon-maximize\"\/\"NearlyNearly one in five young people outside of school is unemployed.<\/p>\n

Facing a one-in-five risk of joblessness, even graduates from China\u2019s top universities dare not be complacent. Lei Xi, a 20-year-old student at a prestigious university in Shanghai, moved into a youth hostel this summer to begin her third internship.<\/p>\n

Majoring in finance, Lei Xi\u2019s internships spanned internet companies, quantitative hedge funds and foreign firms, essentially covering the main paths she intends to pursue after graduation. Even so, she does not hide her employment anxiety, describing the current job market as \u201cbrutal, distorted and terrifying\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said that most of her classmates are simply trying to \u201cget by\u201d, giving up hopes for a job they actually like. \u201cAs long as there\u2019s a job we can do, that\u2019s enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lei Xi has also long understood that passion must rest on an economic foundation \u2014 otherwise, one must bow to reality. \u201cA three- or five-year career plan is impossible. If I can be sure of what I\u2019ll be doing next year, that\u2019s already pretty good,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n

They move from the familiar spaces of hometowns and schools into strange social settings, experiencing multiple layers of disembedding \u2014 spatial, relational and professional \u2014 which brings greater and more complex pressures and uncertainties. \u2014 Zhao Litao, Senior Research Fellow, EAI, NUS<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Today\u2019s migrant youth: worse off<\/p>\n

Zhao Litao, a senior research fellow at the East Asian Institute (EAI) of the National University of Singapore (NUS) who has long studied social stratification and mobility, told Lianhe Zaobao that in the context of major changes in the economy and employment structure, today\u2019s Chinese youth live in an era of high uncertainty. It is difficult for them to form stable expectations or make long-term plans.<\/p>\n

He pointed out that the root of the problem lies in a \u201cstructural reality\u201d. The dilemmas facing young people in China are not due to their individual abilities or choices but are shaped by the broader macro environment. However, lacking social support networks, they can only manage on their own by continually adjusting their expectations and behaviours, gradually slipping into a state of \u201catomised disembedding\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisembedding\u201d refers to the severing of ties between individuals and their familiar social structures, leading them to drift away from their original environments and networks of relationships.<\/p>\n

\"icon-maximize\"\/\"Today\u2019sToday\u2019s young Chinese who live in hostels while job hunting often find themselves in entirely unfamiliar cities.<\/p>\n

Zhao explained that the first generation of migrant workers who moved into big cities had the support of fellow villagers, relatives and other familiar networks. By contrast, today\u2019s young Chinese who live in hostels while job hunting often find themselves in entirely unfamiliar cities. They move from the familiar spaces of hometowns and schools into strange social settings, experiencing multiple layers of disembedding \u2014 spatial, relational and professional \u2014 which brings greater and more complex pressures and uncertainties.<\/p>\n

\n

Among them, elite university graduates feel especially deprived: \u201cThey have been studying hard since childhood, only to end up unable to secure suitable jobs. The harm caused by this gap is all the more severe.\u201d \u2014 Professor Chang Chih-chung, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Taiwan\u2019s Kainan University\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Professor Chang Chih-chung of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Taiwan\u2019s Kainan University noted that young Chinese today are broadly facing a widening gap between their educational credentials and job expectations. Among them, elite university graduates feel especially deprived: \u201cThey have been studying hard since childhood, only to end up unable to secure suitable jobs. The harm caused by this gap is all the more severe.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a month in the hostel, Kun left Shanghai and returned to Shenzhen in late August. In a follow-up interview, he said that he had secured a position at a design firm there, back in a role familiar to him.<\/p>\n

Before leaving Shanghai, Kun did not receive a single interview notice; he had only managed to complete his portfolio. When asked why he left, his reply was brief, \u201cShanghai\u2019s fine too, just that I had fewer friends there than in Shenzhen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preparing for \u2018doomsday\u2019<\/p>\n

Amid unprecedented confusion and uncertainty, some young people in China have learned to prepare for the worst, as if engaged in a \u201cdoomsday survival\u201d race against time.<\/p>\n

When asked what skills he had prepared for \u201cdoomsday\u201d, Kun blurted out: selling starch sausages.<\/p>\n

This was not mere fantasy \u2014 it came from his own experience. While working in Shenzhen, Kun had set up a street stall with a friend selling hamburgers. Despite all the effort, they did not make any profit. He later realised that a simple sausage-grilling business requiring just 200 RMB in capital (100 RMB for a grill and 100 RMB for supplies) was actually the optimal solution.<\/p>\n

\"icon-maximize\"\/\"AA resident goes up the steps at a youth hostel.<\/p>\n

Kun doesn\u2019t shy away from his willingness as a university graduate to run a street stall. In fact, he views it as a practical choice: \u201cBy the time I turn 35, many jobs might be replaced by artificial intelligence. So I might as well try working for myself now and see if I can make it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up in an era of dramatic economic fluctuations and rapid technological change, this generation seems almost naturally trained to cope with the ebb and flow of fortunes. Kun calmly added, \u201cWhen the tide goes out, you\u2019ll see who\u2019s been swimming naked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Nowadays, more and more of her peers also turn to mystical practices, from Western tarot, star charts, and divination, to Eastern fortune-telling, incense offerings, astrology and praying to deities.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, some young people place their hopes in mysticism. Li Xuehan, a 20-year-old sociology student, has been learning about bazi (lit. Eight Characters) since high school. Nowadays, more and more of her peers also turn to mystical practices, from Western tarot, star charts, and divination, to Eastern fortune-telling, incense offerings, astrology and praying to deities.<\/p>\n

When interviewed, Li said that fortune-telling gives her a kind of \u201cpower to believe\u201d. She shared, \u201cIf it tells me the future will be good, then I feel more faith in life, and the present suffering becomes bearable.\u201d<\/p>\n

She thinks that young people\u2019s willingness to believe in mysticism has a lot to do with today\u2019s social uncertainty. Li said, \u201cI feel very lost about the future. I don\u2019t know which direction to take, so I need something to guide me, to give me something to believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Authenticity and turning inward<\/p>\n

Li was one of the interns who came to Shanghai and stayed in a hostel this summer. But by the third week of her internship, she chose to resign.<\/p>\n

With her cropped haircut, she projects a rebellious and tough vibe. However, Li said quitting her only in-person internship during college was neither impulsive nor an act of rebellion, \u201cI already got a sense of the headhunting industry through my internship and learned how my boss thinks \u2014 that\u2019s enough. Besides, this is my last summer before entering the workforce. Shouldn\u2019t I take a break?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSlow down, wait a little\u201d \u2014 Li repeated this phrase several times during the interview. It reflects a personal value system she\u2019s been rebuilding since starting university, focused on stepping away from the whirlpool of meritocracy, understanding her true needs, and \u201cbecoming a mature person\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve already enjoyed the most abundant material life. Ours is the generation meant to develop spiritually.\u201d \u2014 Li Xuehan, a 20-year-old sociology student<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"icon-maximize\"\/\"TheThe usually bubbly Li Xuehan during a quiet moment.<\/p>\n

Her definition of maturity is: to view the world rationally, to accept her own emotions and to exist in society as an independent individual without relying on any other identity.<\/p>\n

But how does she resolve the practical problem of supporting herself? Li admitted that finding a job that meets all her expectations is difficult, but getting one that pays is not impossible: \u201cI\u2019ll definitely be able to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Li said that what feels more urgent than income is spiritual growth: \u201cWe\u2019ve already enjoyed the most abundant material life. Ours is the generation meant to develop spiritually. If we don\u2019t take on this task now and pass it onto the next generation, then where exactly are we heading?\u201d<\/p>\n

Academic: society should keep up with youth<\/p>\n

In the preface to his new book Remaking Youth: Essays in Anthropology and Sociology (\u300a\u518d\u9020\u9752\u5e74\uff1a\u4eba\u7c7b\u5b66\u793e\u4f1a\u5b66\u8bba\u96c6\u300b), published this May, Yan Yunxiang, an anthropology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, described the growing focus of young people on their inner lives as an \u201cinward turn\u201d.<\/p>\n

He wrote that in contemporary Chinese society, young people are clearly at the forefront of this inward turn, showing a strong interest in inner harmony and the pursuit of it. \u201cThe inward turn has enhanced young people\u2019s capacity for self-reflection, prompting them to rethink and challenge the values imposed by the adult world,\u201d Yun said.<\/p>\n

NUS\u2019s Zhao Litao also noted that while new social norms and values take time to develop, shifts in social and economic realities happen much sooner, forcing young people to face them first. As a result, youth mindsets often outpace broader societal changes.<\/p>\n

\"icon-maximize\"\/\"ResidentsResidents at a youth hostel in Shanghai.<\/p>\n

In an ideal scenario, he said, the values and support systems of society as a whole should adjust accordingly. But at present, young people face not only difficulties in finding jobs but also multiple pressures from social expectations and parents, while the support they receive remains far from adequate.<\/p>\n

How can China\u2019s \u201catomised disembedded\u201d youth be reintegrated into society? Zhao argued that young people need not only decent jobs but also meaningful lives. Institutions, culture and norms all must adapt and evolve to create spaces where young people can find both purpose and belonging.<\/p>\n

\n

The government could provide more reliable and longer-term spaces for youth through employment services, transitional housing and growth resources. \u2014 Zhao <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He pointed out that alumni associations, hometown fellowships and social work organisations could all play a role. Compared with youth hostels, the government could provide more reliable and longer-term spaces for youth through employment services, transitional housing and growth resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cChanges in social values are inevitable,\u201d Zhao added. \u201cWhat we hope for in the future is not a single fixed model, but a truly inclusive environment that embraces diverse career paths and ways of life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shanghai Correspondent, Lianhe Zaobao Translated by Candice Chan China\u2019s young graduates, adrift in a tough job market, are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3092],"tags":[51,157528,3374,897,157529,131414,4678,16,15,359],"class_list":{"0":"post-473864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jobs","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-china-youths","10":"tag-employment","11":"tag-jobs","12":"tag-social-fragmentation","13":"tag-social-responsibility","14":"tag-society","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-video"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115316688235776994","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}