PhD graduates seeking postdoctoral positions are outnumbering postdoc job vacancies in China by one-to-five, as similar US roles are slashed due to unprecedented cuts in government funding and ongoing hiring freezes.
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A recently published survey found the supply of postdoctoral positions at Chinese universities “far exceeds” the number of young researchers looking for a job.
The findings were reached after an analysis of more than 24,000 university job postings and a similarly sized sample of jobseekers from channels such as the Chinese education ministry and online recruitment platforms.
According to the statistics, for every five postdoctoral early career research vacancies, there was on average just one jobseeker. Of all recruitment groups, the study found the largest gap between vacancies and demand was among postdocs.
The study titled “Report on the Development of Young Talents in Chinese Universities”, was published at the end of March by Lipin, an online recruitment platform mainly for young researchers with master’s and doctoral degrees in China.
“This means that young academics are under relatively little pressure to compete for the postdoc job,” the report said, noting the trend was also an indication that the positions were not very attractive to early career researchers and scientists.