China jobs: new energy, automation sectors shine as employment growth belies broader economic downturn
- Increased hiring in industrial automation seen reflecting digitisation trend across all industries, with an emphasis on green growth
- New survey data by Zhilian Zhaopin recruitment platform shows how more young people have been gravitating towards emerging industries in China
Recruitment in automation and new energy is outshining other sectors in China, with robust performances at a time when Beijing is steering growth toward digital and green industries, and the findings come as the broader job market is under pressure amid a slow economic recovery.
The number of jobs posted in the new-energy industry grew by 36 per cent in the first half of last year, compared with the same period a year prior, while job postings in industrial automation grew by 7 per cent, according to a report published last month by Zhilian Zhaopin, an online recruitment platform in China.
“It’s worth noting that … the hiring growth in industrial automation is not only an indicator of the robust development in advanced manufacturing, it also reflects the popular trend of digitisation across all industries,” the report said.
Resilient job demands in the sectors sharply contrast the difficulties faced by many jobseekers in China, as the private sector, China’s major job creator, has largely cut investment amid dwindling profits and dimming hopes of a quick economic turnaround.
According to the Zhilian report, the demand for technical positions in the new-energy industry was especially prominent. For instance, the number of recruitment positions for windpower engineers increased by 738 per cent, year on year.
“Under the policy guidance, the demand for clean energy – especially the number of windpower projects – is growing rapidly, requiring more windpower engineers to participate in research and development, design, construction and maintenance,” the report added.
“At the same time, the intensive growth of new-energy projects also gave rise to the rising job openings for engineering supervision positions, which increased by 322 per cent in the first half of 2023, year on year.”
Among the hiring jobs in industrial automation, tech positions were also among the most ample, accounting for six of the 10 jobs with the most positions, including electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, mechanical design, and quality management/testing.
While first-tier cities still lead in terms of job-market growth, second-tier cities have shown an obvious rise, the report said.
In the industrial-automation industry, Guangzhou in the major manufacturing hub of Guangdong province had the highest proportion of job openings in the country and the fastest growth rate, with the industry’s job openings accounting for 10.3 per cent of the total in the first half of 2023, up from 4 per cent in 2022.
Second-tier cities such as Foshan, Guangdong, also showed strong potential in the field of industrial automation, with the number of job openings in the industry increasing from 1.3 per cent in 2022 to 3.5 per cent in the first half of 2023.
Policies such as the “Implementation Opinions on the Development of the General Artificial Intelligence Industry”, and the “Foshan Robot and Related Industries Development Plan (2023-30)“, provided strong support for the development of the advanced manufacturing industry, the report pointed out.
Zhilian’s survey data also showed that more young people were gravitating towards emerging industries.
Among those cross-industry jobseekers eyeing positions in industrial automation, the share of those aged 16 to 25 increased from 21 per cent to 31 per cent in the past three years, and the proportion of jobseekers with less than 3 years of work experience increased from 5.9 per cent to 25.2 per cent.
