This year about 2,800,000 young people graduated from college, an increase of 680,000 from last year. The situation is making job-hunting increasingly difficult, and many are joining the “non-employment” group. This group made up 5 percent of the total graduates at the end of 2002, but the rate is much higher this year, according to officials in charge of job placement for college graduates in Chongqing.

In recent years, taking the graduate school entrance examination has become a growing trend, and it is now the primary reason for non-employment. In Chongqing, the number of new graduates taking grad school entrance exams has been increasing steadily: 12,000 in 2002, 15,000 in 2003 and 19,000 in 2004, according to Dou Xiaoming, of the Chongqing Municipal Admissions Office.

Many other “non-employeds” plan to study abroad after graduation, hoping to broaden their vision and improve their self-esteem. The US has long been a first choice of study locations, although in recent years it has become much more difficult to obtain a visa.

Xiao Wang, a 2004 graduate from Shanghai International Studies University, paid 7,000 yuan in compensation to a company with which he had signed an employment agreement when he got an admission notice from an American university.

“I signed the agreement with the company just in case I failed to get any admission notice or the visa. Actually I have made up my mind to go abroad,” Xiao Wang said.

Other non-employeds simply refuse to look for a job because they have or want to have someone to depend on, such as their parents or future spouse.

Xiao Lu is a graduate from the computer department of a famous university who thinks work is boring. She is operating, with a few Internet friends, a personal website that is entirely sponsored by her father, who runs his own business.

Some female graduates decide to get married after graduation and become full-time homemakers, depending on their husbands for financial support.

Fei Yufang, director of the graduate employment service and career development center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said the emergence of the non-employment group shows the multiplicity in the choices graduates are making.

Graduates now have the freedom to make their own choices, according to Fei. Many want to broaden their knowledge and get a higher degree before settling down to work, which is reasonable. However, others refuse to find a job just because they are afraid to face difficulties and challenges.

(China.org.cn by Yuan Fang, August 2, 2004)