Amid record numbers of new university graduates and a persistent labor mismatch across China, a fast-growing number of degree holders are turning to vocational training to acquire practical workplace skills, plugging long-standing gaps between theoretical university learning and on-the-job requirements.
The shift is epitomized by 26-year-old Liu Wenhao, who holds an environmental design degree. His first jobs in interior design in Qingdao, Shandong province, paid under 3,000 yuan ($445) a month, and despite cycling through five employers in a single year, he saw virtually no pay growth. He repeatedly confronted real-world work demands unaddressed by his university education, including being tasked single-handedly with designing a 300-square-meter apartment.
To break his career stagnation, Liu enrolled at Qingdao Technicians College in 2024 in a multimedia training program, a sector booming as social media reshapes corporate communications and brand outreach. His newly acquired practical skills were in such strong demand that he left the two-year program early last year to take a corporate communications role at a local manufacturing plant, with his monthly income increasing to 5,000 yuan.
"A degree only gets you through the door. What matters afterward is your actual ability," Liu said.
With the number of college graduates nationwide reaching a historic high of 12.7 million this year, vocational "retraining" has evolved from individual career adjustment into a notable social trend, fueled in part by national policy priorities aimed at resolving China's stubborn labor supply-demand imbalance.
During a 2024 study session of the Political Bureau of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, identified the mismatch between graduate talent supply and industrial skills demand as the country's foremost employment challenge. He called for adjustments to academic programs and resource allocation in higher education, enhancements to vocational education and improvements in lifelong vocational skills training.
Authorities have moved swiftly to implement these directives, restructuring university course offerings and resource distribution, modernizing vocational training infrastructure and expanding subsidized skill-upgrading programs.
Official figures show the government delivered 11.53 million subsidized vocational training sessions in 2025 alone, part of a broader push to align graduate capabilities with industrial needs.
Findings from a 2025 survey covering 105 technician schools show that between 2023 and 2025, the number of schools running courses targeted at college graduates rose from 26 to 45, with total enrollment increasing from 1,821 to 2,462.
Growth is particularly robust among learners with higher academic credentials. Institutions offering retraining for holders of bachelor's degrees and higher jumped 75 percent, from 16 to 28, and enrollment in these programs climbed from 401 to 570 participants.
While highly educated retrainees still account for a modest share of overall vocational students, their rapid growth rate signals fast-rising demand for practical skill upgrades among China's university-educated workforce, experts say.
National and local policymakers have rolled out targeted initiatives to accelerate the trend.
In April last year, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security launched a nationwide campaign encouraging vocational colleges to open specialized training tracks for university graduates.
The push comes amid acute industry-wide talent shortages. The ministry estimated that China was facing a skilled-labor shortage of 4.5 million in smart manufacturing alone by the end of last year.
To address this, Beijing plans a two-year program this year at six technician colleges in smart manufacturing, multimedia and auto repair.
Jiangsu province, a manufacturing powerhouse on China's eastern coast, plans to launch 20 such classes this year in artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and modern services.
Vocational educators witness this academic-practical skill divide firsthand. Lu Weiyang, an instructor at a Guangzhou technician college that began offering one-year skills programs to graduates last year, sees the gap daily. Undergraduates arrive with theoretical knowledge but weak hands-on skills — a gap he considers bridgeable. They learn faster, he said, thanks to stronger self-learning and comprehension.
"Students with an undergraduate background have the ability to extrapolate — they can deduce the next steps after a bit of guidance," he said.
Teaching such mixed cohorts — some with relevant degrees, others from unrelated fields — has required new approaches.
To accommodate these academically advanced learners, vocational institutions are revamping their teaching frameworks. Li Yang, vice-dean of the college's electromechanical equipment department, said the school has adopted custom modular courses tailored specifically for graduate retrainees.
"Modular training is like targeted driving test instruction — each module builds a specific practical skill," he said. Students work through separate skill blocks — electrical systems, pneumatics, installation, programming — at their own pace, focusing only on what they lack rather than repeating what they already know.
Integrated model
In his speech at the 2024 study session of the Political Bureau, Xi emphasized the need for better integration of vocational and general education, industry and education, and science and education. He also highlighted the importance of allowing the market to play a decisive role in human resource allocation while ensuring that the government fulfills its supportive role.
Guangdong province, an industrial powerhouse, has emerged as a front-runner in implementing this integrated model.
By the end of last year, the province had built 171 industry-education-evaluation skill chains, partnering with leading companies, including Huawei, Tencent and BYD, to tailor vocational training curricula to real supply chain and industrial needs.
For Li Shaochang, 29, a graduate of Guangzhou Electromechanical Technician College, the decision to enroll in a technician college was driven by market demand. Despite holding a degree in mold design and manufacturing from Tianjin University, one of China's most prestigious institutions, he spent five years outside his field. Observing the shift toward smart manufacturing and AI, he recognized the need for practical skills.
"The technician college gives me extensive hands-on experience," he said. "That, combined with university training, is exactly what companies want."
The college's partnership with Guangzhou Jiafan Computer Co, an automation enterprise focused on smart manufacturing, gives students access to the same production line hardware used in the factory, with engineers teaching on campus. Li Shaochang's strong academic background earned him an early placement at Jiafan, where he joined an automated guided vehicle robotics team — a platform that combines a mobile chassis with a robotic arm for tasks like material handling and loading. His team leader was an engineer who had taught him at the college.
Zhang Kai, 37, holds a business administration degree from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and now oversees Jiafan's advanced skills training base. Speaking from both sides of the desk — as a manager and a student in the same program — he said the company screens for a willingness to learn and a desire for skills, not credentials.
"A bachelor's diploma shows you can handle exam pressure," he said. "But a degree plus real skills — that's where the real competitive edge lies."
At the annual Central Economic Work Conference in December, Xi called for combining investment in physical assets with investment in human capital — a call that has since crystallized into the political catchphrase "investing in people", shorthand for upgrading the workforce through education, skills training, health and social adaptability.
Embodying that principle is Liu, the environmental design degree holder who enrolled at Qingdao Technicians College. He now earns more than double his previous salary, so his choice to build on his degree with vocational training has already paid off.
Guo Yuhe contributed to this story.
