(Yicai Global) May 8 -- As Chinese companies resumed recruitment following the end of the zero-Covid policy, 50.4 percent of China’s college graduates searching for jobs obtained offers in the second half of the spring recruitment season, according to a recently released report.

The number of college graduates that received job offers between the middle of March and the middle of April rose 3.7 percent from a year earlier, the results of a report based on a survey carried out by Chinese online recruitment platform Zhaopin.Com showed.

Recruitment targeting fresh graduates picked up during the period thanks to eased Covid-19 measures and more graduates becoming active in job hunting, according to Zhaopin’s report.

Regarding the type of company college graduates prefer, state-owned enterprises are the top pick, as 46.7 percent have SOEs as their first choice. The figure grew 2.3 percentage points in the second half of this year’s spring recruitment season from a year earlier, continuing an upward trend lasting for three consecutive years.

Just over 13 percent of the surveyed college graduates chose to be freelancers, versus 18.6 percent in the same period last year. Nearly 5 percent opted to continue studying in China, compared with 9.3 percent a year earlier.

Some 18.9 percent of the college graduates surveyed by Zhaopin have no clear plans for their future, compared with 15.9 percent a year earlier.

Salary is the top concern for 69.3 percent of college graduates, followed by stability at 40.7 percent, which jumped 4.5 percentage points from a year ago.

China will have a new record high of 11.6 million fresh college graduates this year, according to data from the Ministry of Education.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione