Chinese lawmakers have urged the authorities to take the lead in eliminating job market discrimination that targets those over the age of 35.
In recent years, hidden discrimination in China’s job market – such as age caps on recruitment, bias against married but childless women, and discrimination against graduates from non-elite universities – has been increasingly brought out into the open, adding to the anxieties of middle-aged jobseekers.
National People’s Congress (NPC) deputy Zheng Gongcheng said many universities and government departments impose an age limit of 35 when hiring PhD graduates, which violated fair employment principles and forced young people onto an uninterrupted academic path, leaving them little room to pause or adjust their careers.
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The discrimination against those over 35 can be traced back to age restrictions in civil service recruitment that have gradually shaped private-sector hiring practices in a job market marked by fierce competition, with a majority of the 12.22 million fresh university graduates this year expected to enter the labour force.
In major cities, where young jobseekers are abundant, companies prefer younger, lower-paid employees, particularly in the internet and hi-tech industries, where market volatility exacerbates mid-career job insecurity.
But age discrimination in hiring conflicts with China’s push for delayed retirement, after the top legislature approved a plan last year to gradually raise retirement ages by up to five years by 2040. While the government is promoting later retirement to ease pension fund pressures, widespread workplace discrimination against those over 35 creates career stagnation. If finding employment beyond 35 remains difficult, its delayed retirement goals will be difficult to achieve.
China has vowed to keep its urban jobless rate around 5.5 per cent this year, which would mean creating over 12 million new urban jobs.
Several NPC deputies urged government agencies, public institutions and state-owned enterprises to take the lead in eliminating age discrimination.
“Employment age discrimination is becoming more visible and has sparked growing discontent,” Zheng said in a proposal to the NPC’s just-concluded annual session. “China’s labour regulations can no longer turn a blind eye to it. Urgent action is needed to curb the worsening trend and address public concerns.”
NPC deputy Liu Xiya proposed raising the civil service age limit to 40 or 45, while NPC deputy Meng Yuan suggested amending labour laws to prohibit age discrimination.
Meanwhile, the requirements for this year’s civil service exam still set an age requirement of 18 to 35, with only fresh master’s and PhD graduates eligible up to the age of 40.
Vincent Lin, a mid-level manager at a state-owned bank, said his entire team is aged around 30 and they are all graduates of top universities in China, the United States or Hong Kong.
“The most sought-after jobs in state-owned enterprises, public schools and government agencies mostly go to fresh graduates from elite institutions,” he said.
Crystal Peng, who is studying for a master’s in education, said: “If you work for a few years before pursuing a PhD, you’ll be over 35 and ineligible to apply for civil service or public school positions. With over 11 million new graduates each year, competition is brutal. These policy proposals? Just empty talk to me.”
Jiang Shengnan, a member of China’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, told China Women’s News that discrimination against over-35s was “a systemic issue affecting society as a whole”. She first proposed revising civil service age limits in 2021.
More from South China Morning Post:
- China’s job market braces for record number of fresh graduates next year
- Shenzhen eases age limits for government jobs, blazing trail for China’s retirement delay
- China’s middle-aged jobseekers face age discrimination in unfriendly market as economic, unemployment pressures rise
- Chinese firm Unicom’s dismissal of a 24-year-old undergraduate because she is ‘too old’, renews age discrimination debate
- China’s looming population crisis throws the spotlight on workplace age discrimination
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