A recruitment fair organized under the “Spring Breeze Initiative and Employment Assistance Season” was held this afternoon at the Oriental Pearl Tower City Plaza in Shanghai’s Lujiazui district. The event drew 80 companies offering positions across finance, trade, technology, information services, and other sectors. Job seekers were seen moving between booths, résumés in hand, pitching themselves to recruiters in search of their next opportunity.
The Spring Breeze Initiative is a long-running employment program jointly promoted by nine government departments, including China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. Launched annually after the Lunar New Year, it connects employers and job seekers through on-site fairs, online recruitment, and community employment service networks.
Despite the activity on the floor, attendees painted a bleak picture of the broader job market, with age discrimination emerging as a recurring theme. A job seeker in his 40s, surnamed Gao, said he was laid off after his company downsized and had been unemployed for over six months. While on-site booths rarely listed age requirements, he noted that many online postings explicitly state applicants must be “under 35.”
A 36-year-old surnamed Gong echoed that concern, saying anyone over 35 tends to be filtered out at the résumé screening stage. He left his previous job about a month ago due to excessive stress and is now targeting administrative roles, hoping for a monthly salary of 5,000 to 7,000 yuan (approximately $685 to $960 USD). “If I don’t make the jump now,” he said, “it’ll only get harder after 40.”
A 23-year-old recent graduate surnamed Wang relocated from Shandong to Shanghai seeking better pay in electrical engineering. Despite submitting many online applications, he has received few responses, which he attributed to stiff competition and, perhaps, his academic credentials.
The job fair comes as China’s government continues to prioritize employment stability amid slowing economic growth. The 2026 Government Work Report set targets of keeping the urban unemployment rate around 5.5 percent and adding over 12 million new urban jobs. Compounding the pressure, China’s Ministry of Human Resources estimates that 12.7 million college graduates will enter the workforce this year — a new record high.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), March 28, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202603280184.aspx