Zhaopin: China College Graduates Facing Challenging Labor Market and Declining Salaries

BEIJING, May 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Zhaopin Limited (NYSE: ZPIN) ("Zhaopin" or the "Company"), a leading career platform^[1] in China focused on connecting users with relevant job opportunities throughout their career lifecycle, today released a report on its 2017 career survey of college graduates in China. The report found that college graduates are facing a more challenging labor market, and declining average monthly salary.

China will have a record of 7.95 million graduating students joining the labor force this year. Zhaopin conducted its 2017 survey of college graduates to analyze their employability, based on their perceptions of the labor market, job-hunting efforts and results. About 93,420 college graduates participated in the survey this year, including junior college graduates, undergraduates and graduate students.

Strong overall market

There are signs that the overall labour is showing signs of strengthening in line with overall economy gaining momentum. This has been evidenced by the CIER index compiled by Zhaopin and Renmin University, which tracks the ratio of job vacancies to job seekers in a variety of industries and cities across the country, rose to 1.91 in the first quarter of 2017, from 1.71 during the same period of 2016. The rising index is an indication the labour market had improved with the economy as was reported in April.

But certain challenges exist for graduates

However, not all parts of the labour market are strengthening. The record size of this year's graduating class is posing unique challenges for graduates. With such a large graduating class this year, new job seekers still face a daunting challenge, especially those from less well-known universities outside the top tier. To help address some of these challenges, Zhaopin has developed the National Employability Test to both help graduates and employers identify suitable talents.

Highlights of Zhaopin's 2017 report on college graduates:

• About 40.8% of graduates believed the labor market was very challenging this year, up from 36.5% last year.
• 26.7% of college graduates had signed employment contracts this year, down from 35.4% last year.
• The average monthly salary for college graduates declined by 16% this year to RMB4,014.
• The average monthly salary for male graduates was RMB4,374, higher than RMB3,624 for female graduates.
• The IT/telecom/electronics/internet sector offered the highest monthly salary of RMB4,867, followed by RMB4,692 in the financial sector and RMB4,457 for the traffic/transportation/logistics/warehousing sector.
• For the first time since Zhaopin started the survey in 2014, "opportunities to learn and grow" overtook "good salary and welfare" as the most important factor for college graduates in assessing jobs.

Challenging labor market for college graduates

Zhaopin's survey shows that college graduates are facing a more challenging labor market this year. About 40.8% of graduates believed the market is very challenging this year, up from 36.5% last year. 47% of graduates thought the job market was acceptable, even though difficult.

Trying to secure a job, 41.3% of graduates submitted 11 to 30 resumes this year, and 11.7% even gave out more than 51 resumes to potential employers.

It was more difficult to get interview opportunities this year, Zhaopin found. 31.9% of college graduates got 1 to 3 interviews, and 27.1% had 4 to 5 interviews. About 8.3% of graduates did not get any interviews this year, up from 3% last year.

By the end of April this year, 27.7% of college graduates still had not received any job offer, higher than the 24.8% seen last year. Meanwhile, 50.2% of graduates got 1 to 3 job offers, lower than the 55.4% last year.

About 26.7% of college graduates had signed employment contracts this year, down from 35.4% last year. 29.5% of male graduates and 24.7% of female graduates signed contracts this year.

For graduates who had job offers but declined to sign contracts, the top reasons were "salary/welfare did not meet expectation" (35.5%), "did not like position/work" (32.4%), and "not satisfied with work location" (27.7%).

Declining monthly salary

Both the expected and actual monthly salary for college graduates declined this year, Zhaopin survey found. The average expected monthly salary was RMB4,875 this year, a drop of RMB110 from last year. The average actual monthly salary for college graduates declined by RMB751 to reach RMB4,014 this year.

The average actual monthly salary for male graduates was RMB4,374, higher than RMB3,624 for female graduates. The IT/telecom/electronics/internet sector offered the highest monthly salary of RMB4,867, followed by RMB4,692 from the financial sector and RMB4,457 from the traffic/transportation/logistics/warehousing sector.

Among graduates who already signed employment contracts, 33.5% choose to work in first-tier cities and 33.1% would go to emerging first-tier cities. Emerging first-tier cities were actually more attractive to college graduates as 37.5% of them desired to find jobs there.

The IT/telecom/electronics/internet sector was the most attractive sector with 19.4% of college graduates preferred to work in this field and 20.3% actually found related jobs.

Changing attitude

As to future plans after graduation, about 73.5% of graduates would find a job. Students planning for further education in China dropped sharply to 6.3% this year, from 16.5% last year. Students planning for further education overseas also declined to 3.4% this year, from 4.8% last year. Nearly 10% of graduates said they don't intend to take a job after graduation. They would like to take some time off to travel, do volunteer work, or spend time with parents.

What is the ideal job for college graduates? About 55.9% of graduates preferred jobs with "opportunities to learn and grow", while 52.2% chose "good salary and welfare". It was the first time since Zhaopin started the survey in 2014 that "opportunities to learn and grow" had overtaken "good salary and welfare" as the most important factor for college graduate to assess a job.

College graduates were more rational with overtime. They would work overtime when necessary to complete urgent projects, finish their own work, or improve their skills. About 40.3% of graduates would accept 2 to 5 hours of overtime a week, and 23.1% could work overtime 5 to 8 hours a week.

About Zhaopin Limited

Zhaopin is a leading career platform in China, focusing on connecting users with relevant job opportunities throughout their career lifecycle. The Company's zhaopin.com website is the most popular career platform in China as measured by average daily unique visitors in each of the 12 months ended March 31, 2017, number of registered users as of March 31, 2017 and number of unique customers^[2] for the three months ended March 31, 2017. The Company's over 135.0 million registered users include diverse and educated job seekers who are at various stages of their careers and are in demand by employers as a result of the general shortage of skilled and educated workers in China. In the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016, approximately 36.9 million job postings^[3] were placed on Zhaopin's platform by 509,813 unique customers including multinational corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises and state-owned entities. The quality and quantity of Zhaopin's users and the resumes in the Company's database attract an increasing number of customers. This in turn leads to more users turning to Zhaopin as their primary recruitment and career- related services provider, creating strong network effects and significant entry barriers for potential competitors. For more information, please visit http://www.zhaopin.com.

Safe Harbor Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Zhaopin may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Any statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Zhaopin's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements that involve factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, but not limited to the following: Zhaopin's goals and strategies; its future business development, financial condition and results of operations; its ability to retain and grow its user and customer base for its online career platform; the growth of, and trends in, the markets for its services in China; the demand for and market acceptance of its brand and services; competition in its industry in China; its ability to maintain the network infrastructure necessary to operate its website and mobile applications; relevant government policies and regulations relating to the corporate structure, business and industry; and its ability to protect its users' information and adequately address privacy concerns. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is current as of the date of the press release, and Zhaopin does not undertake any obligation to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

For more information, please contact:

Zhaopin Limited 
Ms. Daisy Wang 
Investor Relations 
[email protected]

ICR Beijing
Mr. Edmond Lococo
Phone: +86 10 6583-7510
[email protected]

SOURCE Zhaopin Limited