Friday, August 24, 2012

Graduate Woes

One of the arguments in my research is that netizen participation in China is high because Chinese graduates are either facing lack of work or are working at jobs that they are overqualified for, leading to extra time being spent on the internet and thus finding activities and posting grievances on the internet. While this is a hard argument to substantiate, there was a new article today by the Wall Street Journal saying that 69% of college graduates in China currently make less than migrant workers.

While worker dissatisfaction hasn't manifested itself politically, such as in public protests, it is bound to be a worry for China's top leaders who regularly stress the need to avoid social instability, particularly ahead of this fall's leadership change.

Whether or not this underemployment is the reason for netizen activities on the Chinese internet, as stated above the dissatisfaction among students in job placement is enough to cause unrest online, and perhaps offline.

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