How to Expand Employment "New Space" and Write a New Chapter in Job Stabilization and Income Growth?

Urban employment increased by 12.67 million, with an average urban surveyed unemployment rate of 5.2%—this is an impressive achievement reflecting our country’s resilient economy last year. These two significant figures demonstrate the overall stability of our employment situation and have filled delegates at this year’s National People’s Congress with expectations for continuing to write a new chapter of employment during the 14th Five-Year Plan.

“Over the past year, we have seen China’s strong resilience. But we cannot deny that there are pressures,” said Chen Xueping, team leader of the painter crew at Shandong Sanjian Labor Management Co., Ltd. Her notebook records the voices of ten migrant workers over 50—those who have accumulated their skills over half a lifetime but find it difficult to find a place to use their expertise after returning home. This anxiety over “skill gaps” and “mismatch of jobs” exists deeply in the employment market.

The warmth of macro data and the confusion of individual development intertwine, pointing to a key topic discussed by delegates at this year’s NPC: under the strategic deployment to accelerate the construction of a people-friendly development model, how can we expand new employment “spaces” and continue to write new chapters of stable jobs and increased income?

The Government Work Report clearly states the need to “build a people-friendly development approach.” Mo Rong, chief expert at the China Academy of Labor and Social Security Science and think tank, believes this means prioritizing employment more deeply into the economic fabric, promoting coordinated efforts across fiscal, monetary, employment, and industrial policies, solving structural contradictions through development, seizing new opportunities amid technological waves, and safeguarding group rights through institutional innovation. This will help continuously improve employment levels and quality, ensure basic livelihoods, and also reduce income gaps and maintain social stability.

“Urban surveyed unemployment rate is about 5.5%, with over 12 million new urban jobs”—achieving this year’s target depends on policy support.

Wang Yu, chairman of Spring Airlines, specifically highlighted the detailed deployment in the government work report regarding “adhering to employment priority policies and increasing efforts to stabilize employment.” “Continuing to implement phased measures such as job stabilization refunds, social security subsidies, and special loans, further increasing investment in work-for-relief projects,” he said. “Implementing actions to stabilize and expand employment, supporting labor-intensive industries to maintain jobs, and fostering new occupations and positions in emerging and future industries to enhance the service sector’s employment-driving capacity”—he believes this policy package, which includes real financial support, will directly promote total employment, expand new employment, and improve quality.

The rapid development of artificial intelligence is profoundly reshaping the employment landscape. While actively embracing technological change, delegates are more focused on how to turn “technological shocks” into “employment growth.” Wang Lizong, president of the Guangdong High-Tech Industry Chamber of Commerce, pointed out the key to breaking the deadlock: “The core is ‘loving the new without despising the old’—accelerating the creation of new jobs while simultaneously opening pathways for workers to upgrade their skills, matching labor supply with new employment spaces.” He advocates a dual-track approach: on one hand, opening AI application scenarios to generate massive new roles in operations and management; on the other, accelerating the intelligent upgrading of traditional manufacturing to stabilize employment fundamentals.

In the process of technological reshaping of employment, forward-looking monitoring and early warning are indispensable. Wang Xiaofei, director of the Social Training Department at Dezhou Engineering Vocational College in Shandong, pointed out: “The main contradiction in current employment is the ‘structural mismatch’ of ‘jobs with no workers and workers with no jobs.’” To bridge this “skills gap,” she proposed a systematic solution: accelerate the construction of a full-chain mechanism of “AI employment monitoring—early warning—response.” “Technological innovation must advance hand in hand with social fairness,” Wang emphasized.

The government work report proposes to “promote the training of outstanding engineers, national craftsmen, and high-skilled talents,” and to “deepen reforms of talent development systems and mechanisms, and improve evaluation systems oriented toward innovation ability, quality, effectiveness, and contribution.”

“This responds to the expectations of skilled talents,” said Shi Yancai, senior skilled master at China Nuclear Engineering Construction Co., Ltd. He believes the key lies in precise matching and value recognition: “What the industry urgently needs, training should deliver specifically.” He suggests improving the skills training system, establishing a salary system based on skill value, and creating incentive mechanisms that link skill levels with salaries and equity, genuinely enhancing skilled workers’ sense of achievement and honor.

A solid foundation for stabilizing employment depends on building a comprehensive safety net for key groups. During discussions, policies are transforming from good intentions into concrete institutional designs.

“Now he is a capable ‘master,’ and I’ve become a ‘master’s master’!” said Qian Haijun, a 56-year-old delegate, community manager at State Grid Zhejiang Cixi Power Supply Company. At the NPC, he showed reporters a blessing he received this Spring Festival from his Yi apprentice, Jiziyou Wu, from Buluo County in Daliang Mountain deep in Sichuan.

As the initiator of the “Thousand Households, Ten Thousand Lights” public welfare campaign, Qian Haijun has dedicated himself over five years, with support from the State Grid, to training many Yi electricians like Jiziyou Wu.

In his view, “employment is the greatest livelihood, and skills are the best guarantee.” He calls for targeted training for employment difficulties, integrating resources from central enterprises and public welfare organizations to build a closed-loop service of “public welfare + training + employment,” and encouraging the establishment of cross-regional skilled talent matching alliances, so that mountain-area skilled workers can also “go out” and achieve decent employment.

Supporting youth and college graduates’ employment is equally crucial. Su Hu, vice chairman of the China Vocational Education Society, emphasized the urgency of vocational education reform: “AI is reshaping skill standards. If colleges do not adjust curricula to align with industry needs, students will face ‘skill mismatches’ upon graduation.” He advocates deepening industry-education integration to cultivate versatile talents who can both handle tools and understand algorithms.

How to turn “returning home” employment into a “warm hometown” choice and solve the return migration dilemma of migrant workers? Chen Xueping suggested creating more prominent labor brands, building multi-level employment support networks, and relying on “return home employment service stations” to provide one-stop services such as job matching, policy consultation, and skill assessment, enabling workers to return home while maintaining stable employment and a happy life.