State media takes aim at ageist hiring policies

Tough job market: A file photo showing job seekers crowding a job fair at Liberation Square in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. One study found many job advertisements explicitly limited the age of candidates to below 35, including for civil service admissions and jobs with several local governments. — Reuters

Chinese state media last week took aim at employers’ discriminatory hiring practices, including a trend among companies seeking younger and cheaper workers that has become widely known as the “Curse of 35”.

The Workers Daily newspaper has been at the forefront of a media campaign to draw attention to the iniquities of a labour market shaped by high youth unemployment, an aging population and a slowing economy.