A Study on the Employment of Graduates of Higher Education in the Context of the Financial Crisis

Based on analysis of four surveys conducted during the time period of 2003-2009, this paper examines basic characters and changes in college student employment trends under new circumstances triggered by the current global financial crisis. The data shows that the crisis has negatively influenced the growth of student employment and has aggravated the already serious imbalance of supply and demand in the Chinese job market for university graduates. Shifts in economic growth structures caused by the financial crisis have decreased demands in the job market for university graduates. Although Chinese government carried out a series of reforms aimed at promoting employment for university graduates, their individual preferences about work options and tendencies of choosing location have not been noticeably changed. This is due to the significant imbalance of socioeconomic development among geographical regions, urban and rural regions, as well as labour market segmentation.