The Employment Report for Class-of-2020 CUHK-Shenzhen bachelor’s degree graduates were released on March 9. The report shows that despite the unexpected pandemic and ever-growing complex international situation, the current bachelor’s degree graduates still harvested a high employment rate, with the acceptance rate of world-renowned universities and employment salaries, among many other factors, outperforming most domestic universities.

The graduation profile of Class-of-2020 CUHK-Shenzhen undergraduates presents the following highlights: the overall employment rate reached 95.08%, staying the highest among the well-known universities in China; 73.40% of graduates chose to pursue further studies, of which 68.66%, a record high, were enrolled in master's/doctoral programmes at Top 50 universities around the world; the average annual salary reached RMB 151,000 indicating strong competitiveness of the graduates; 75.61% of those pursuing jobs were employed in the world top 500, China top 500, listed enterprises or multinational enterprises, demonstrating the wide recognition by enterprises; 64.15% of employed graduates stayed in Shenzhen, a significant increase of 7.13% compared with the previous class.

Nearly 70% pursuing further studies enrolled in master's/doctoral programmes at world top 50 universities

The number of Class of 2020 graduates pursuing further studies accounts for 73.40% of the total. 68.66% of them were admitted to top 50 universities according to QS / US. News World University Rankings, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of Oxford, ETH Zurich, Imperial College London University of Chicago, University College London, National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Columbia University, University of Edinburgh, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, University of Hong Kong, and the University of Tokyo.

The United States was the most popular destination for studying abroad, attracting 40.40% of the graduates. Columbia University alone has engaged 33 graduates this year. Mainland China came at the second place at 14.31%. The UK ranked the third place at 14.13%, with an increase of 5.46%. 10.87% of these graduates chose to pursue postgraduate programmes in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. Singapore, Australia, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Japan, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Korea, Ireland, Denmark, Austria and Sweden were also popular destinations for many graduates.

CUHK-Shenzhen graduates highly sought after by leading companies due to their strong competitive edge

This year, a total of 159 graduates (21.14%) went straight into workforce after graduation. Based on the 2020 Fortune Global 500 and China 500 ranking lists, 75.61% of the employed graduates worked for Fortune 500, China 500, listed companies or multinational companies, including industry leaders such as Alibaba, Tencent, Bilibili, Meituan, Microsoft, FOSUN, HSBC, Budweiser, Procter & Gamble, Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG).

Viewed by the type of employers, private enterprises accounted for 35.85%, such as Huawei and ByteDance; Foreign-invested enterprises accounted for 27.67%, including Budweiser, Procter & Gamble and Big Four accounting firms; state-owned enterprises accounted for 13.84%, such as Jianxin Jinke, China Southern Power Grid and China Resources Sanjiu; another 22.64% of job-seeking graduates were employed by government agencies, institutions and scientific research institutions, an increase of 11.90% over the previous term.

In terms of regional distribution, nearly 90% of the employed graduates chose to work in first-tier cities such as Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing, which accounted for 64.15% (a year-on-year increase of 7.13%), 9.43%, 7.55%, and 4.40% respectively. The number of graduates securing positions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong- Macau Greater Bay Area reached 118, accounting for 74.21% of the total employed, and achieving a year-on-year increase of 3.96%.

The young university, founded in 2014, is now producing graduates with "high admission" and "high employment" rates through its high level and high quality education. The continuous output of outstanding talents has also gained wide recognition and reputation from all walks of life and internationally renowned universities.