Tencent announces 28,000 internships amid China's youth unemployment crisis
What's the story
In a major campus recruitment drive, leading Chinese technology giant Tencent Holdings has launched a massive internship program. The initiative will offer 28,000 internships over the next three years. The move comes as China's 12 million fresh graduates face challenges in the job market. The Shenzhen-based firm plans to retain more interns as permanent employees, but has not revealed the exact percentage of retention.
Hiring plans
Tencent to hire 10,000 interns this year
In its latest recruitment drive, Tencent plans to hire 10,000 interns graduating in summer or later. A large number of these positions, 6,000 to be precise, will be in fields like artificial intelligence (AI), big data, cloud computing, and video gaming engines. The company revealed the same in a WeChat post.
Workforce expansion
Workforce and industry recruitment efforts
As of March end, Tencent had a workforce of over 55,000 employees. Including subsidiary staff, the company's total employee count was 110,558 by last year's end. The number had increased from the previous year's 105,417. In light of this summer's 12.22 million fresh graduates entering the job market, other Chinese tech firms are also ramping up their recruitment efforts.
Unemployment crisis
Youth unemployment rate remains high despite government efforts
Despite the government's focus on youth employment, the jobless rate for non-students aged 16-24 stood at 16.5% by March end. The number is far higher than the overall urban unemployment rate of 5.2%. The high youth unemployment rate highlights the persistent difficulties faced by fresh graduates in finding jobs in China's competitive job market.