The China Teaching Web

“I worry that I will not be able to find a good job after I graduate,” a student recently told me in class. This fear has been echoed by many of my students who are well aware of the impact that the global economic crisis has already had on China. They know about the factories in the South that have had to close down and they have heard about the thousands of workers throughout the country who have suddenly found themselves unemployed. Graduation may have been an exciting prospect earlier in the year but now many of my students are dreading the day when the university doors will close behind them and they will have to step out into the real world.

Even before the economic crisis hit, finding a job in China was a perilous process. Traveling for days, waiting in line for hours, competing with dozens of other candidates, and being forced to accept or reject a job offer within a matter of minutes are just some of the difficulties that the average job hunter in China faces. Those who do accept jobs are often required to complete a 3 month probationary period with a ridiculously low salary. With the dark clouds of recession hanging over the global economy, this process in China is sure to become even more difficult and frustrating.

While all sectors of the Chinese economy will inevitably suffer from the crisis, I fear that English majors will be impacted the most. Many of my students in the English department hope to work for foreign companies in China and perhaps even go abroad. With no hope for an economic turnaround in the near future, foreign companies in China are unlikely to be hiring new staff. Chinese trade companies, which usually have a great need for English staff members, are suffering from decreased international trade and will not be recruiting either.

Students of mine who are not English majors will also find their options limited; Chinese companies that depend on foreign income will certainly not be looking to hire anyone. Thus, many of my students who are graduating in the near future will have to settle for jobs that are not related to their fields of study. Understandably, this possibility is a nightmare for those who had high hopes of jumping into an exciting English career immediately after graduation.

While I see many worried faces - especially in my senior classes - nobody seems to be blaming anyone in particular for the financial crisis.

“These things happen,” a student said to me after class recently. “It is the way that the world is and it’s nobody’s fault in particular.”

My students are certainly aware that the financial domino effect originated in the United States but few are willing to point fingers. They realize that the financial crisis has been devastating to the United States and seem to believe that everything possible there is being done to remedy the situation. In the meantime, my senior students are crossing their fingers and hoping that graduation does not come too soon.