The job fair was packed with people, but only a few actually found jobs. (Video screenshot)
[People News] China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and several other government departments jointly issued a directive last week, calling on provinces to establish more vocational programs for domestic service and "actively recruit college graduates into the domestic service industry." This move has sparked widespread discussion among Chinese netizens, with many lamenting the "rapid devaluation of diplomas." While all professions deserve respect, and the domestic service sector is becoming more professionalized, recent graduates and observers told Voice of America that the participation of Generation Z college graduates in low-skill jobs such as cleaning highlights challenges including youth unemployment, workplace competitiveness ("involution"), and misallocation of educational resources.
According to Voice of America, the directive, titled Opinions on Deepening the Integration of Production and Education in the Domestic Service Industry ("Opinions"), was issued on November 13 by the NDRC, the Ministry of Education, and three other departments, prompting a flurry of online discussions in China.
A Shanghai-based Douyin (TikTok) content creator known as "Old Kang (Paper General Second Fatty)" mocked the situation in a short video on Tuesday, November 19, saying, "This is hilarious! Next year, there will be 12.22 million graduates... all competing to enter the domestic service industry."
A New Career Path for College Graduates: Male Nannies and Female Cleaners?
The creator noted that starting from kindergarten, college students spend a total of 19 years studying, building their knowledge and proficiency in Chinese and English, only for authorities now to suggest they enter the domestic service sector to "compete in the housecleaning market traditionally dominated by older women."
In his video, Old Kang asks, "So now college graduates are being encouraged to work in factories assembling screws, deliver food for online platforms, drive rideshare cars, and now there’s a new career track... male nannies and female cleaners? How surreal is this?"
The short video garnered a significant response, with over 17,000 likes and more than 3,700 comments, the majority of which disagreed with the new policy.
For example, a Douyin user from Fujian, "Jin Jin Yang," sarcastically commented, "The next step will probably be encouraging college graduates to return to farming."
Another Shanghai-based user, "Laotie Zhefu," expressed concerns about the return on investment in his daughter’s education. He shared that his ninth-grade daughter’s tutoring fees had already exceeded 300,000 RMB, saying, "What kind of job could she get after graduation to earn that back?"
A user from Yunnan, "Water in the Bottle," mocked the policy, saying, "A cleaning lady works hard to put her daughter through college, only for them to end up as colleagues."
Meanwhile, a Liaoning user, "Gobi Uncle Wang," directly accused the authorities of exploiting education for profit, commenting, "What they (the authorities) want is not educated college graduates but the tuition fees generated during their studies."
Training Over 300,000 Domestic Workers Annually
According to the Opinions released by the National Development and Reform Commission, authorities are requiring "each province to establish at least one high-level modern domestic service vocational education program and to build more than two national-level high-level programs across the country." The directive also encourages preferential treatment in admissions plans for domestic service-related majors and sets ambitious targets: "Train 300,000 domestic workers annually, 30,000 trainers for the sector, and 10,000 domestic service managers."
While discussions on Weibo remain limited, most users express skepticism or dissatisfaction.
For instance, a Weibo user from Guangdong remarked, "The biggest demand in domestic services is for cleaning, commonly referred to as sanitation work. A fancy name doesn’t change the fact that it’s grueling labor. In summer, even your underwear gets soaked with sweat, and you have to put up with clients' moods. Take Guangzhou as an example: if you do two 8-hour jobs a day without taking a break for a month, at most you’ll earn 7,000 RMB—working harder than a horse or an ox."
Another Guangdong-based user, "Maoxiao," bluntly stated that the new policy is "an indirect admission of the employment problem."
A third Guangdong user, "Superblack111," revealed a dire situation in the local market, saying, "Domestic service companies like '51 Domestic Services' have all gone bankrupt, and many people can’t get back the tens of thousands of RMB they prepaid."
Low Willingness Among College Graduates to Enter Domestic Service Industry
Ray, a 25-year-old Gen Z professional, told Voice of America that post-pandemic, China’s job market has indeed shrunk significantly and become "highly competitive." However, unless financial hardship compels them, graduates from Tier 1 and Tier 2 universities are unlikely to choose domestic service, especially low-end cleaning jobs.
Ray explained, "Jobs requiring technical labor don’t necessarily mean lower salaries, but they are more physically demanding. Some of these jobs rely on 'youth capital'—you work for a few years, but your body suffers. Most college graduates are not willing to do this unless they need to support their family financially."
Ray shared that after graduating two years ago, his university classmates opted to remain unemployed for one or two years to prepare for graduate school or civil service exams, aiming for stable government jobs. He rarely heard of anyone taking low-end labor jobs.
He admitted that such jobs are often considered undignified and reflect the "devaluation of academic credentials," leading to peer discrimination. "Even among university students, degrees are stratified in China. For example, graduates from top universities like Tsinghua and Peking University (211 and 985 universities) look down on those from Tier 2 or Tier 3 universities. Among overseas-educated students, those who studied in the U.S. often consider themselves superior to those, like me, who earned a degree in the UK. Similarly, UK graduates see themselves as above those who studied in Australia or Southeast Asian countries."
Ray noted that while his UK diploma will not arrive until early next year, he returned to Chongqing in mid-September and has been actively applying to positions at local foreign and private companies. He has submitted around 150 applications, which he considers relatively few compared to his peers, some of whom have sent out 200–400 applications. Despite reaching the third round in some interviews, he has yet to secure a job, prompting him to lament, "It’s so competitive."
"I think this competitiveness ('卷', pronounced juan) is an unavoidable phenomenon in Chinese society. It’s like waves in the ocean—no one can escape the feeling of being swept up. Especially when it comes to job hunting. Many graduates from top universities (985 schools) are going through numerous interview rounds for jobs that pay only 8,000 to 10,000 RMB."
Using the hiring process at ByteDance as an example, Ray added, "A friend of mine went through six interview rounds only to be rejected. Sometimes, I really wonder—if a job requires six rounds of interviews, are they hiring an employee or a CEO? This is competitiveness ('卷')—it’s an inefficient use of resources and bad for society."
Ray, whose family is relatively well-off, said he wouldn’t consider domestic service even if he struggles to find his ideal job. His family wouldn’t approve either. Jokingly, he added, "My parents would probably just tell me to come home and take care of them instead!" After all, in Chinese society, the prevailing mindset is still to expect children to "bring honor to their family."
Li Qiang: Chinese Government Shifts Blame for Youth Unemployment
Li Qiang, founder and executive director of the New York-based NGO "China Labor Watch," argues that with China's economic downturn, middle-class salaried families are facing growing work pressure and reduced consumption. He predicts that the domestic service market is unlikely to escape contraction and declining demand in the future. He questions the government’s recent push to absorb college graduates into the domestic service industry, suggesting it is an attempt to shift the blame for the over 17% unemployment rate among 16–24-year-olds onto the youth themselves.
Li Qiang told Voice of America: "The domestic cleaning industry relies on the middle class to hire services. In reality, this group is already overstretched and doesn’t know when they might lose their jobs. How could there possibly be a sustainable market for cleaning jobs? By promoting this narrative, the Chinese government is shifting responsibility onto college graduates, implying that the government and the Party aren’t failing to address (unemployment) issues. Instead, it’s the students’ own fault for being overly ambitious, ignoring the many job opportunities they supposedly have but refuse to take."
He added that another systemic issue is the expansion of higher education in China. With more students entering Tier 2 and Tier 3 universities, but with inconsistent quality of education, many graduates find themselves in a situation where they are overqualified for low-skilled jobs but unqualified for high-level positions. This is exacerbated by widespread discrimination against certain jobs. Armed with degrees, many graduates are even less willing to work in low-end jobs like cleaning or food delivery, especially in a society where career discrimination is pronounced.
According to a report by market research firm iiMedia Research published in May, China's domestic service market is projected to grow from 1.16 trillion RMB last year to over 1.3 trillion RMB by 2026. The report notes that 67% of domestic service consumers are married women with children. Their demand is split among cleaning (43.1%), home services like organizing and moving (33.6%), and routine labor (31.9%).
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