Degree holders pushed into low-skilled jobs as qualifications lose their value

Holding a university degree yet earning less than a construction apprentice a few years into the trade — that gap has become a quiet source of inner distress for a cohort of young Hong Kong graduates. Many report that, after sending out a flood of job applications, they still end up in maintenance, security or junior clerical roles almost entirely disconnected from what they studied.

Degrees keep being churned out while the local growth in matching professional positions stays limited; combined with imported labour and automation squeezing entry-level roles at the same time, the mismatch between qualifications and jobs has hardened into a structural phenomenon. Stuck between high credentials and low-status work, graduates lack any realistic guidance on how to pivot, and the emotional gap they feel rarely has any outlet.