(Yicai Global) April 20 -- An increasing number of Chinese postgraduate students are applying to postpone the end of university study amid growing employment pressure. But human resources staff at companies have warned about the risks attached.

Hou Jia, who was supposed to graduate in math from a university in Shanghai last year, chose to postpone for a year to build up more experience through internships in the financial sector. After receiving offers from some brokers, Hou decided this was a better option.

Fresh graduates enjoy various benefits such as easier residency settlement and job access. For example, some posts in governments and businesses are only open to fresh graduates.

But according to a member of the HR staff at a well-known Shenzhen-based telecoms company, businesses tend to be more cautious and consider more factors when candidates have deferred their graduation. 

Another HR worker said candidates will not be rejected due to the postponement, but close attention would be paid to their reasons for the delay and the experience they acquire during the extra period of time. 

Wang Jing once considered putting off graduation but finally decided against it and chose to join a large state-owned enterprise in Guangdong province. “Although postponement could be a good choice, it’s better we don’t waste too much time in a certain phase in our life,” Wang said.

Difficulty in completing a thesis is another reason why some postgrads delay graduation. It is a more common choice among PhD students as they face greater research pressures. 

The number of postgraduate students delaying graduation increased from 9.29 percent in 2016 to 15.56 percent in 2021.

Last year, there were 1.24 million graduate students enrolled and 862,000 graduated. Universities admitted 10.15 million undergraduates and 9.67 million graduated. In March this year, the unemployment rate for young people aged 16 to 24 was 19.6 percent, up 1.5 percentage points from February.

Editor: Tom Litting