New Job Postings Drop by Over a Quarter in First Three Months

Though a new report shows the number of job postings in China recorded a steep drop in the first quarter, the figure for the period wasn’t quite as dire as that for the first two months, indicating a minor recovery across the economy as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic eased.

The total number of postings across all sectors, decreased by 27% year-on-year in the first three months of the year, according to the report (link in Chinese) from Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management, which was based on data gathered from recruitment platform Zhaopin.com.

However, this was an improvement from the period covering January and February, in which total job postings declined by 32.4%. The report said that by the end of March, the number of new jobs being posted daily had almost recovered to 2019 levels.

Professor Lu Hai, who leads the project, said in a briefing Wednesday that the data indicate an ongoing recovery in demand for workers, as most businesses have now resumed work. Much of China’s economy went through an unprecedented shutdown in February and early March as Covid-19 spread nationwide.

However, the recovery has been uneven, with export-oriented manufacturers likely to hire even fewer people in the second quarter, the report said. This is despite manufacturing activity as a whole rebounding last month, with the latest Caixin China General Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index indicating an expansion in activity after a record contraction the previous month.

According to Lu, the more a business depends on exports, the lower its demand for new staff in the current quarter. Export-oriented manufacturers hired 26% fewer people in the first quarter, and Lu’s team estimates this figure will fall further to 37% in the second quarter.

Many of these manufacturers found that they’ve had little work to do in recent weeks because foreign clients cancelled or slashed orders as the pandemic spread globally.

The worst affected industry in the first quarter was the entertainment and media sector, which saw new hires drop by over 40%. The education, informational technology, and internet, finance, and trade sectors came next, with declines of between 30% to 40%. Government services, nonprofit institutions, as well as the energy and mining sectors, were the least affected, with a drop of less than 10%.

Contact reporter Isabelle Li (liyi@caixin.com) and editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)