Over 3 million college graduates are estimated to face difficulty in securing a job this year, an official with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said Sunday.

The unemployment will be seen in both fresh graduates and those who have long since finished their studies, said Wang Yujun, director of a center on social security under the ministry, adding that some 7 million students will graduate from colleges this year, a new record high.

This year has been nicknamed as "hardest for graduates to land jobs" by media and Chinese Net users.

Previously, 70 percent of graduates would be hired before leaving school, Wang was quoted by the Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Evening News as saying, adding that most of them "aim too high."

This has placed great pressure on this year's tough employment situation, and this could last for years, Wang said.

"Among other reasons, the worldwide economic slowdown in recent years has made life harder for small private enterprises, a major power in hiring fresh graduates," Chu Zhaohui, a researcher with the National Institute of Education Sciences, told the Global Times Monday.

The current advanced education system should also be blamed for not providing enough instruction in career planning and job-hunting skills, Chu said, adding that most schools just indoctrinate students with outdated knowledge printed in textbooks, causing a large gap between the ability of graduates and the actual requirements from recruiters.

Moreover, some vacancies do not match graduates' high expectations in terms of salaries and working locations, Meng Guang, a senior manager with zhaopin.com, a leading employment website in China, told the Global Times.

The situation will be improved at the end of this year as more graduates land jobs or turn to further education, Meng said.

China cannot lift its legal retirement age as the number of positions available is still below demand, said Deng Dasong, director with the Center for Social Security Studies of Wuhan University, adding that China has an annual increase of 10 million job vacancies, of which 30 percent are from retirees.

"However, college graduates alone need 8 million positions," Deng said.

In China currently there are 700 million people who work and the country has sufficient supply in labor until 2020, Deng said. "More young people will be deprived of their jobs when the retiring age is lifted," he said.

"Employees hired by government-backed institutions should be cut, while more preferential policies and funding should be provided to small- and medium-sized enterprises to ensure a fair and robust employment environment," Chu said, noting that schools should also upgrade their courses to keep them more abreast with the time and competition.