Joblessness strikes home for uni grads

A growing number of mainland Chinese graduates are abandoning its mega-cities, with state media reporting almost half are returning to their hometowns within six months of graduation amid a sagging job market.

Feeling the pinch of housing costs and a slowing economy, the jobless grads are forfeiting cities that have traditionally provided a stepping stone to middle-class wealth.

To save, some have even resorted to sharing a bed with a stranger.

China's youth jobless rate hit a record 21.3 percent in June as offers during the traditional job-hunting season proved limited as the economy struggled and regulatory clamp-downs left the property, tech and education sectors bruised.

In June, a statistics bureau official said more than six million youths were unemployed.

Some 47 percent of grads returned home within six months of graduation in 2022, up from 43 percent in 2018.

The numbers varied by region, with 59 percent in the east heading home, 44 percent in the west and just 24 percent in the northeast rust belt.

Also pushing the young to return home were soaring rents.

Rents in Beijing climbed 5 percent from December to June followed by 2.8 percent gains in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Not everyone is giving up.

After sending 10 copies of her resume to financial companies each month, Joyce Zhang, a 2022 master's grad in financial engineering, said she had still not found a job in Beijing but was not going home yet.

Zhang's parents in Inner Mongolia are paying her rent of 2,600 yuan (HK2,820) for a 12-square-meter room with a shared kitchen and bathroom.

Policymakers have rolled out measures to support youths seeking work and rental housing.

A district in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, offers free rent for people in a nursing home, as long as they spend 10 hours or more a month with the elderly and pay a 300 yuan fee.

Some young mega-city drifters even share beds with strangers. On China's Xiaohongshu and WeChat groups, "seeking bedmates? posts have become more common.

One such post was looking for a roommate to share one bed in a room "with a huge balcony" in Beijing. The rental fee: 750 yuan per month.