China recruiter slammed for telling candidate no weekends off for holding bachelor’s degree

A recruiter from a major state-owned insurance company sparked controversy by telling a job candidate that they did not deserve weekends off because they only held a bachelor’s degree.The incident came to public attention on January 18, when a jobseeker from Urumqi, in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of northwestern China, revealed details of the interview online.The applicant said that a recruiter on the job platform Boss Zhipin, a publicly listed Chinese company specialising in online recruitment, had told them they “did not deserve weekends off”.People walking outside the headquarters of China Life Insurance in Beijing. The applicant was applying for a job with the company. Photo: ReutersAccording to a screenshot of their conversation, the recruiter, surnamed Kai, is a senior HR and administrative manager at China Life Insurance Company Limited.Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Beijing, China Life is one of the largest state-owned insurance companies in the country.According to its 2024 annual report, the company employs 98,689 people, including 7,586 with postgraduate degrees and 71,710 with bachelor’s degrees.The position the applicant had applied for was not disclosed.During the conversation, when the recruiter asked: “Can you come for an interview tomorrow afternoon?”, to which the applicant responded: “I am still considering other opportunities. I cannot really accept a job without weekends off.”