The female student who is about to graduate is criticized by the employer as ‘too old’

Chinese telecommunications company China Unicom has been accused of age discrimination after withdrawing a job offer to a 24-year-old student who was about to graduate, saying the candidate was “too old”.

The female student, surnamed He, was informed by the company on May 25 that the position she was previously accepted for was no longer considered because she was too old. He said she knew of at least five other students who were also excluded by the Guangdong-based company due to age.

China Unicom explained to He that the recruitment process violated the company’s internal rules, which only hire undergraduates under the age of 24.

During this company’s recruitment last year held at He School, she signed a contract to work with the Heyuan branch, Guangdong province.

Before the deals were finalized, the company conducted a background check on He and confirmed there were no problems. Therefore, China Unicom’s sudden termination of the offer confused He.

“China Unicom has taken advantage of graduates like us. I was born in February 1998, about to graduate while the spring and autumn recruitment period has passed, it is difficult to find a new job now,” He said.

When He asked to see the background check documents, the company refused, saying it was an internal confidential document.

The incident later became a topic of discussion in China. The story even sparked a wave of criticism of ageism in the workplace.

Age discrimination is a big problem in China, even though the country is facing a decline in its working-age population, aged 19 to 59. Earlier this year, the National Bureau of Statistics released a report stating that the country has 882 million people of working age. Meanwhile, this number in 2021 is 894.

Dawn (Follow SCMP, Xinhua)