China’s Labor Market Faces Severe Structural Mismatch, Report Finds
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China’s labor market is facing a severe structural mismatch, with cutthroat competition for white-collar and administrative roles contrasting sharply with a dearth of applicants for blue-collar and service-sector jobs, according to a new quantitative report.
The 2025 Human Resources Market Trend Analysis Report, published jointly by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Population and Labor Economics and recruitment platform Zhaopin, analyzed full-sample data from January to October 2025. By measuring the “competition index” — the ratio of resumes submitted to available job openings — researchers quantified the intensity of the nation's employment race.
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- China's 2025 labor report shows national competition index of 59; white-collar roles like engineering management (248) highly contested, blue-collar like delivery (8) undersubscribed.
- High competition (>150) in engineering/construction (197), admin/research (196), high-end manufacturing (154); low (<35) in services (7) and assembly (23).
- Tier 1 cities at 92; Northeast 65 due to job shortages, Central 44.
- Zhaopin
- Zhaopin, a major Chinese recruitment platform, co-published the 2025 Human Resources Market Trend Analysis Report with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Population and Labor Economics. The report analyzed full-sample data from January to October 2025, revealing a national job competition index averaging 59, with stark sectoral and geographic imbalances.
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