Expand space, increase capacity, and stabilize employment for key groups
2026-02-09
Employment is the greatest livelihood, connected to both the macro economy and the lights of thousands of households. The latest data shows that by 2025, 12.67 million new urban jobs will be created nationwide, with an average surveyed urban unemployment rate of 5.2%, and the overall employment situation will remain stable. In the complex and severe external situation, as well as the weak domestic supply and demand, this achievement of stabilizing employment is not easy to come by. Behind it is not only the continuous efforts of macroeconomic policy "combination punches", but also reflects the solid foundation of China's economy stabilizing and improving under pressure, and enhancing resilience. We should also be aware that the employment situation still faces multiple pressures and challenges. The expected increase in the number of college graduates in 2026 compared to the same period last year is 480000, and coupled with the continuous influx of rural migrant labor, the overall employment pressure remains high. At the same time, in the process of digital transformation and intelligent upgrading, some low skilled positions in traditional industries have been greatly reduced, while emerging industries have a strong demand for high skilled talents, and the mismatch between employment demand and labor supply continues to widen, highlighting the structural contradictions in employment. The key to withstanding pressure and resolving conflicts lies in expanding space through development and increasing capacity through transformation. We need to seize the opportunities of the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, accelerate the development of strategic emerging industries and future industries, accelerate the landing of new technologies, integrate new formats into various industries, and continue to "grow" new positions in the growth of industries. We should also pay close attention to the reshaping effect of artificial intelligence on the employment structure. At the same time as creating new jobs, artificial intelligence is having a substitution impact on some traditional positions. It is necessary to accelerate the establishment of an artificial intelligence employment impact monitoring and early warning response system, rely on big data to strengthen dynamic tracking and trend analysis, identify risks in advance, and implement proactive policies. In the process of the technological wave surging forward, it will provide a "safety net" for workers and solidify the "stabilizer" for economic transformation. While expanding employment opportunities, it is even more important to prioritize stabilizing the employment of key groups. Actively expanding employment and entrepreneurship channels for college students, paving a broader development path for young people. College graduates are valuable talent resources, and stabilizing their employment is related to the overall development and social expectations. We need to closely connect the "warm breeze" of policies with the "pulse" of the market, continuously introduce new measures to promote employment, carry out recruitment activities such as "guiding the future through employment", deeply implement the "three supports and one assistance" and employment internship programs, and build a stage, bridge bridges, and expand space for young people, so that more young people can grow their talents and realize their dreams in practice. Deepen school enterprise cooperation, promote talent order based training and collaborative education. The joint training between high-tech enterprises and universities deeply integrates cutting-edge technology training with academic systems, effectively enhancing the alignment between talent cultivation and industry demand. We should base ourselves on China's industrial foundation and educational advantages, focus on the mismatch between skill supply and job demand, deepen the integration of industry and education, promote classroom direct access to positions and precise professional docking with industries, make talent cultivation more closely related to industries, markets, and reality, and continuously alleviate the structural contradictions in employment for college graduates. Actively explore employment channels for migrant workers and enable more workers to secure their "rice bowls". Promoting the employment and entrepreneurship of migrant workers is an important support for maintaining overall stability in employment. We must adhere to the "dual wheel drive" of local employment and entrepreneurship and migrant work, and broaden the space for high-quality employment. Taking county towns as an important carrier to promote the construction of new urbanization, accelerate the cultivation of rural leading industries, continuously create more high-quality jobs through industrial prosperity, and enable migrant workers to achieve employment and income increase at their doorstep. Based on regional characteristics and industrial foundation, we will carefully create a group of well-known and established labor service brands, promote the transformation of labor output from "scattered distribution" to "brand driven and organized output", and make the path of employment more stable and wider. To stabilize employment, greater efforts are needed to address structural contradictions. International experience shows that continuously improving workers' skills is an important support for maintaining high employment rates. At present, a new round of technological revolution is accelerating, job demands are changing rapidly, and skill thresholds are rising rapidly. Only by constantly "recharging" can workers stand firm. We need to focus on new quality productivity fields such as artificial intelligence, new energy vehicles, and low altitude economy, targeting urgently needed industries such as elderly care and home services. We should determine the training focus according to local conditions, promote the resonance between training content and industry demand, and effectively solve the structural problems of "having work but no one to do it" and "having people but no work to do it". Author: Han Jing (Second Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Economics and Business Administration, Beijing Normal University)
Edit:Luoyu Responsible editor:Jiajia
Source:ECONOMIC DAILY
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