Nearly 1.2 million Chinese university students have applied for 8,000 positions at China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), a prominent state-owned conglomerate, during a recruitment drive on campuses, underscoring the stiff competition young people face in today’s job market.
CNNC, China’s civilian and military nuclear giant, sparked a public backlash after proudly announcing last weekend that it had received 1.196 million résumés from young jobseekers during its recently concluded recruitment campaign. That equates to about 150 candidates per vacancy.
A record 12.22 million students are expected to graduate from universities and colleges this summer.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
CNNC’s announcement, posted on its WeChat social media account on Saturday, boasted of the “strong magnetic effect” of its ability to lure top students and its role in injecting sustainable momentum into industry-academia integration and innovation.
But it quickly sparked a wave of criticism, with many calling it offensive and arrogant and some accusing CNNC of “showing off its attractiveness”.
“This push is so offensive. The pain of job-hunting for fresh graduates shouldn’t be a company’s source of pride,” said Lisa Bai, a university student in Shanghai.
Finding suitable employment remains a challenge for many young people in China amid economic headwinds, including an intensifying trade war with the United States.
China’s urban unemployment rate for people aged between 16 and 24, excluding students, rose for a second consecutive month in February to 16.9 per cent – up from 16.1 per cent in January – according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
The CNNC post was removed later that day, and the company issued a new one on Sunday responding to the public outcry with a more detailed hiring plan.
It said it was offering 1,730 types of positions and expected to hire 8,000 people, outlining positions for graduates from the associate degree level up to PhDs across various disciplines, including nuclear science, geology, instrumentation and energy.
“We take every résumé seriously and will not disappoint any student who places their trust in us,” it said.
Directly managed by the central government, CNNC is a national leader in nuclear energy development, nuclear engineering construction and nuclear technology applications.
Positions in big state-owned enterprises have traditionally been eagerly sought after by Chinese graduates, with the attraction increasing in recent years as jobseekers make stability a priority amid an economic slowdown.
According to its official profile, CNNC has assets worth around 1.4 trillion yuan (US$190.6 billion) and employs 180,000 people, including 14 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
More from South China Morning Post:
- China vows support to help graduates find jobs as US trade war weighs on the economy
- Tech start-ups all the buzz, but many young Chinese prefer stable government jobs
- Chinese lawmakers urge action on age discrimination in job market
- As China’s ‘employment problems’ mount, Premier Li vows to create jobs, ward off poverty
- As AI disrupts China jobs, could a dedicated insurance fund protect workers?
For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2025.
