First-tier cities remain first choice for job-seeking graduates

First-tier cities, including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as the new first-tier cities, such as Chengdu, Hangzhou and Xi'an, remain the first choice for graduates when searching for jobs, said news outlet Yicai, citing a report jointly released by life services and job-hunting platform 58.com and property portal Anjuke.

The development of the digital economy and the new generation of information technology integrate deeply with various industries. This promotes the demand for talents who have digital backgrounds, such as internet development and applications, computers and data processing, which are rising. Therefore, the employment choices of talents with digital backgrounds represents most of the graduates' choices, the report said.

The employment of talents with a digital background is mainly in regions with high development of the digital economy, according to MyCOS, an education consulting and research institute in Beijing.

The pan-Pearl River Delta, pan-Yangtze River Delta, and pan-Bohai Bay area are the main regions for talents with a digital background for employment. The 2019 undergraduate who works in internet development and applications, computer and data processing within the employment proportion in the three regions is 29.7 percent, 27.5 percent and 19.0 percent, respectively.

Nearly 75 percent of talents with digital backgrounds take a job in first-tier cities and the new first-tier cities, with 40 percent in the first-tier cities and 35 percent in the new first-tier cities, the report said. With the strengthening of new-type urbanization, the demand for talents will be realized in more regions.

Data from the report shows nearly 30 percent of graduates pay 1,001 yuan to 1,500 yuan per month to rent a room, and 23 percent of graduates' monthly pay is 1,501 yuan to 2,000 yuan. Most of the graduates' rent accounts for 20 percent to 30 percent of their salary, and the proportion in first-tier cities is higher than in the new first-tier cities.

The report said many graduates lean towards jointly renting a home with other people to save costs, with 46.6 percent of graduates living in an ordinary residential community, and 74.2 percent of graduates renting with other people.

Moreover, 66.7 percent of graduates clearly plan to buy a home, 44.4 percent of them plan to buy a home in the city where they work and 20 percent will buy a home in their hometown.

The report also showed 93.7 percent of graduates want to buy a home before they are 35 years old. In addition, nearly 80 percent of graduates want family support to buy a home, 61.8 percent need down payment funding from their families and 20.4 percent want to raise their own money to buy a home.