China’s AI Jobs Boom While Top Graduates Take Fallback Roles
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Demand for artificial intelligence talent boomed in China in the third quarter of 2025, with some positions offering salaries well above 20,000 yuan ($2,760) a month, even as a growing number of highly educated graduates flock to low-skilled sales and service jobs.
This divergence reveals a growing paradox in China’s job market amid slowing economic growth, according to recent reports from recruitment platforms including Liepin.com, Zhaopin Ltd. and 58.com Inc. While Beijing’s push for an industrial upgrade is creating high-paying tech roles, a flood of job seekers is competing for positions where applicant growth far outstrips demand, signaling what some observers call an “employment downgrade.”
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- AI job demand in China surged by 54.84% YoY in Q3 2025, with embodied intelligence roles up 72.86%, and average annual salaries exceeding 333,000 yuan.
- Despite tech sector growth, many highly educated graduates are applying for low-skilled jobs; applications for sales/service roles rose over 25% YoY among recent graduates.
- China’s youth unemployment (ages 16-24 excluding students) was 17.7% in September, down from 18.9% in August.
- Liepin.com
- Liepin.com is a recruitment platform that issued reports on the Chinese job market. One report highlighted a 54.84% year-on-year surge in new AI job postings in Q3. It also revealed electronic, semiconductor, integrated circuits, internet, and e-commerce as top sectors for new graduate hiring. Liepin's data further indicated a 25% year-on-year increase in recent graduates applying for sales and customer service roles.
- Zhaopin Ltd.
- Zhaopin Ltd. is a recruitment platform mentioned in the article. It reported that in the first three quarters, the number of job seekers in the AI sector jumped 39% year-on-year, while job postings grew only 3%. Zhaopin also indicated that AI engineers focusing on algorithms can earn an average monthly salary of 21,439 yuan. Furthermore, Zhaopin reported a 43.7% year-on-year growth in job postings for pet services in the third quarter.
- 58.com Inc.
- 58.com Inc. is a recruitment platform in China. According to their data, demand for back-of-house kitchen staff, food preparers, and waiters in Beijing increased by over 20% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter of 2025. It also revealed a significant surge in resume submissions for top service roles in the capital, far exceeding demand growth.
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