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Mandy Zuo

China’s digital talent shortage is worsening as demand grows amid deepening economic restructuring, two recently released studies show.
Smart manufacturing sector job listings rose by about 54 per cent in 2022 from the previous year on zhaopin.com, a leading Chinese recruitment platform.
The supply shortage was worst in fields ranging from software engineering to electronics and automation, the company said in a report last week.
Demand for technical talent has grown as China pushes for structural reform of its economy, seeking to transition from being the world’s factory to smarter and higher-end production.
Skilled manpower and hi-tech: what’s the outlook when China is short of both?
The intelligent manufacturing sector was short of 4.3 million digital workers last year, according to a joint report by Deloitte and Chinese firm Renrui Human Resources Technology.
The gap will widen to 5.5 million by 2025, the report forecast.
China’s five-year plan to 2025 focuses on innovation-driven growth, aiming to build advanced manufacturing clusters and boost key industries including that for integrated circuits, robotics and engineering machinery.
About half of the 2,500 firms surveyed said demand for digital talent was outpacing supply.
As ‘weak confidence remains’, nearly 20 per cent of China’s youth jobless
The supply-demand ratio is expected to rise from the current 1:2.2 to 1:2.6 within the next three years, which will “fail to support the digitalisation needs of the industry”, the report said.
The quality of existing workers in digital-related positions was also not satisfactory, it added, citing responses from nearly half the firms surveyed.
The talent gap has left China facing an employment paradox. While there is mounting pressure to create jobs to tackle overall unemployment in a sluggish economy, manufacturers are struggling to recruit qualified staff as they reform and upgrade.
The biggest shortages were in interdisciplinary and hi-end skills, according to Zhang Xin, a product expert at CIIC Management Consulting, the research arm of state-owned human resource firm China International Intellectech.
Our latest research shows that 40 per cent of industry players had a considerable increase in demand for technical experts in operating and repairing hi-end machines
Zhang Xin
“Our latest research shows that 40 per cent of industry players had a considerable increase in demand for technical experts in operating and repairing hi-end machines,” she said.
“Also unlike before, when a position might only involve a single skill, employers today are increasingly seeking people with extensive expertise, which is one of the most important challenges in the talent shortage so far.”
“Many companies have realised this problem and partnered with colleges and vocational schools to train the specific workers they need,” Zhang added.
“Schools have also realised that students face a skills and market demand mismatch, and are therefore adjusting study courses.”


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Digital worker shortage in smart manufacturing sector will grow to 5.5 million by 2025, a recent report forecast
Biggest shortages are in interdisciplinary and hi-end skills, says product expert at research arm of state-owned human resource firm


A digital worker shortage in China’s smart manufacturing sector will grow to 5.5 million by 2025, a recent report said.


China economy