Around 12.7 million graduates are expected to enter China’s labour market this year — the largest cohort on record. According to reporting in The New York Times, the number of graduate‑level jobs has not kept pace with the rapid expansion of higher education, leaving many newcomers facing a shortage of suitable positions.
AI’s impact, already visible in sectors such as manufacturing and food delivery, is increasingly affecting white‑collar roles. Employers’ listings for traditional graduate positions are declining, and the Times cites graduates who have applied to hundreds of jobs without success.
The disruption is not unique to China. The Times also highlights effects in Kenya, where the so‑called “essay‑farm” industry — in which relatively well‑educated young people provided paid assistance to foreigners with university papers — is being undercut by tools like ChatGPT. The article asks why clients would pay a freelancer in Kenya when an AI can perform the task.
In short: AI is contributing to a squeeze on entry‑level professional opportunities in China at a moment of record graduate supply, and similar technological displacement is surfacing in other countries in different forms. The reporting was published by The New York Times; the piece referenced here was written by Tom Chivers.
