Graduation Gown Worn While Posing Like a Corpse
'Zero COVID' to 'Zero Workplace' Reflected
Last Month China's Youth Unemployment Rate at 20.8%
Among Chinese university students facing the worst employment crisis in history, a trend of 'death graduation photos' depicting despair is spreading.
On the 25th (local time), according to CNN and others, university graduates have recently been sharing bizarre graduation photos on Chinese social networking services (SNS). The photos show them wearing graduation gowns with their faces pressed to the ground or hanging from stair railings like corpses.
Chinese university students who took 'death graduation photos.' [Photo source=CNN news screen capture]
In line with the June graduation season, such ‘death graduation photo’ posts have appeared from prestigious universities such as Chongqing University, Shandong Normal University, and Hunan University. Below the photos, captions read, “Graduates pretending to be dead are those who suffered through ‘Zero COVID’ during their entire studies and now face the reality of ‘Zero Jobs.’”
Last month, the unemployment rate among Chinese youth aged 16 to 24 reached a record high of 20.8%. In this situation, a record 11.58 million university students are expected to enter the job market this summer. Additionally, 1 million 'Haigui' (young people returning from studying abroad) will also join the job competition.
China has enforced a strict 'Zero COVID' policy for over three years, and companies have drastically reduced hiring. Including job seekers who have not yet entered the job market, the threshold has become even narrower. This is why the term ‘Zero Jobs’ is used.
CNN explained, “All of this has painted a bleak picture for students,” adding, “Many students have gone through China’s notoriously competitive education system to reach graduation, but now they are exhausted and discouraged.”
China’s ‘Return to Countryside, Military Enlistment, Street Vending’ Measures... Youth Trend Towards ‘Leftover Food’
Even after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s economic recovery remains slow, causing headaches for the government. The government’s response is the so-called ‘Return to Countryside, Military Enlistment, Street Vending’ strategy. Chinese President Xi Jinping recently encouraged young people to move to rural areas in a letter addressed to university students.
Additionally, the People’s Liberation Army announced it will increase recruitment of new university graduates and high school students by 10% compared to previous years to alleviate the job shortage. Local governments in China are also relaxing regulations on street vendors, which were previously banned due to the pandemic and concerns over urban aesthetics, promoting a ‘street stall economy.’
Meanwhile, among Chinese youth, ‘leftover food blind boxes’ are gaining popularity as a way to reduce living expenses. A ‘leftover food blind box’ refers to products repackaged so that the contents are not visible, consisting of food nearing its expiration date or leftover stock.
In other words, young people are consuming food that restaurants could not sell. Taiwan’s Central News Agency pointed out, “The main customers of leftover food blind boxes are unemployed youth with no income and residents who have migrated from rural areas to cities.”
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