How do China’s millions of blue collar workers find their jobs? Short video services are now a key channel, report finds

Short video apps are becoming the second-most popular channel for China’s 400 million blue-collar workers to look for jobs, according to a report by think tank Center for China New Employment Models (CCNEM), and Kuaishou Technology, the second-biggest short video platform in the country.

Blue-collar workers account for almost 70 per cent of total employees in the country’s manufacturing and service sectors, most of whom earn between 5,000 (US$718) and 8,000 yuan per month, according to the report published this week.

Over two thirds of Chinese blue collar workers, or 67.6 per cent, prefer to look for jobs through “interpersonal introductions” but short video has quickly emerged as the second choice with a share of 17.7 per cent, beating out conventional recruitment websites and apps, according to the report.

The report was based on surveys carried out via the Kuaishou app, which has around 250 million monthly active users who are blue collar workers. Blue collar workers in the report are defined as those engaged in manual labour in the manufacturing and services sectors. The survey findings provide another layer of information about these workers on top of data from the official statistics agency.

In one case, a Kuaishou influencer named Liu Chao helped 14,000 workers to find jobs by promoting recruitment information over two years.

China has around 200 million workers in flexible employment or without long-term employment contracts, according to official data. The country also has nearly 300 million migrant workers, defined as those who take jobs outside their hometowns.