Has investment banking lost its appeal among graduates from China’s elite schools?
In April, six months into an internship at an investment firm in Beijing, 24-year-old Wang Xuan (pseudonym) was told by Human Resources (HR) that he would not be offered a full-time position. Wang was unexpectedly calm when he got the news, remarking: “I anticipated this.”
Signs of trouble emerged last year. He had come across reports of job cuts within the sector and got wind of discussions in the pantry regarding unpaid bonuses from the previous year. Senior colleagues openly expressed a desire to “lie flat” and resign themselves to the possibility of being laid off.
Wang sighed, “Longtime employees might receive a retrenchment package of up to a million RMB. With that sum, they can afford to take a gap year and recharge. But for fresh graduates like us, it’s all about facing the ...