This year’s new college grads entering the workforce are being offered an average monthly salary of 4,014 yuan ($582), and about one-third of them…

This year’s new college grads entering the workforce are being offered an average monthly salary of 4,014 yuan ($582), and about one-third of them chose to work in first-tier cities, according to survey results released by zhaopin.com, a Chinese online recruitment service provider

Zhaopin.com received 93,420 effective samples for the survey, which covered new grads completing higher vocational, undergraduate, master’s or doctoral programs

The survey found the majority of grads, or 73.5 percent, have found jobs, while the number of students set to continue their studies in China accounted for just 6.3 percent, sharply down from 16.5 percent in 2016. The number of students who will study abroad after graduation has also seen a drop, down from 4.8 percent last year to 3.4 percent

About 9.8 percent of the graduates are opting for "slow employment", meaning they will spend some time traveling, staying with their parents or waiting for opportunities to start up a business before figuring out their future plans, according to the survey

Those born after 1995 tend to make more varied choices and are likely to combine work with their hobbies

The average monthly salaries for grads in law, engineering and medical majors are 5,545, 4,512 and 4,500 yuan respectively, slightly down from last year, while graduates with educational and agricultural majors are offered lower pay, at 3,258 and 3,184 yuan respectively

IT/communications/electronics/Internet offer new graduates the highest pay at 4,867 yuan a month on average, but that’s down 826 yuan from last year’s level. Finance and transport/logistics/warehousing come second, offering average monthly salaries of 4,692 and 4,457 yuan respectively

Agriculture/forestry/husbandry/fishery and the service industry offer the lowest pay to new grads, at 3,347 and 3,115 yuan a month on average