In the past several months, some of China’s internet companies—including Tencent, JD.com, and the country’s largest ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing—made headlines for their staff downsizes and operational woes.
However, a report released by China’s career development platform Liepin shows that in the first three months of this year, job-seekers in the country’s internet sector were more likely to land a gig than those seeking employment in traditional industries—such as cultural and media industries, real estate, and financing.
Liepin’s “Talent Shortage Index” indicates that there was an oversupply of personnel within China’s internet sector in February and March, though those numbers were still significantly lower than the national average of all industries.
The indexes of the internet industry in the first three months of the year were 1.29, 0.97 and 0.96 respectively.
A reading higher than 1 indicates a talent shortage while that lower than 1 indicates a talent oversupply.
Meanwhile, the talent index of all industries in the country in the first three months were 1.01, 0.79 and 0.74 respectively.
In addition, Liepin said a total of 1,200 internet companies raised new funds in Q1, nearly 500 of which came from the internet sector.
In the first quarter, positions offered by these internet companies increased by 57.43% year-on-year, indicating they are optimistic for the future and are spending on talents for further development.
The ‘internet plus education’ sector posted the highest growth in talent demand in the first three months of this year. Open positions in this sector increased by 91.42% year-on-year.
E-sports. gaming and artificial intelligence followed with an 89.5% increase and a 44.3% increase respectively. Jobs in the 5G sector saw a 32.1% increase in positions and the industrial internet sector saw 14.3% growth.
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Editor: Nadine Freischlad