A special campus job fair held at Zhenjiang Vocational Technical College on June 2, 2022, aiming to boost employment of new graduates and facilitate the resumption of work for local companies. Photo: IC

Reports from Chinese colleges show that the employment situation of fresh graduates in 2022 overall remained stable but employment rates in some less-developed areas such as in Northwest China were low, presenting challenges.

The reports on the teaching quality of undergraduate students released recently by Chinese colleges showed that employment rates of fresh graduates remained stable, the 21st Century Business Herald reported on Wednesday. 

The general employment rate of fresh graduates from leading Chinese universities of Project 985 and Project 211 is higher than that of the average colleges. Tsinghua University ranks the highest with an employment rate of as high as 96.9 percent. It is followed by Beijing Normal University and East China Normal University with their respective employment rates of 95.6 percent and 94.69 percent. 

Some polytechnic colleges have an outstanding performance in the employment of their graduates.

Statistics also show that first employment rates for key universities, particularly in Beijing and Shanghai, remain stable and high. For example, employment rates for Shanghai International Studies University and Beijing University of Technology reached 94.54 percent and 94.12 percent respectively. 

However, the statistics also show the uneven performance of local colleges in different region, with the employment rates in economically developed areas in the eastern part of the country, such as Shanghai, remaining high, but colleges in Northwest and Northeast China need to step up their efforts. 

The employment rate of multiple colleges in Shanghai reached 90 percent or above, but the first employment rate for Gansu Normal College for Nationalities in Northwest China's Gansu Province was only 19.64 percent. 

Statistics from the colleges also show that flexible employment — including freelance work and employment in part-time jobs — accounts for a high proportion of the fresh graduates' first employment rates. 

According to the Undergraduate Academic Affairs Office of Tsinghua University, the overall employment rate of undergraduates for 2022 was 96.9 percent as of October 31, with 79.6 percent furthering their education at universities at home and abroad. Among the 552 graduates who were employed, 299 were employed with contracts while 253 chose flexible employment. 

Chinese colleges should provide graduates with long-term help and services and focus on their medium- and long-term employment, rather than merely focusing on graduates' first employment, Xiong Bingqi, director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

"To help improve employment for Chinese college graduates, we must get rid of the idea of quick success and instant benefit," Xiong said.