China Pivots Labor Strategy to Focus on Re-Employing 25 Million Urban Jobless

China is aggressively recalibrating its labor policies to prioritize the re-employment of jobless urban residents and the expansion of social safety nets for gig workers, marking a stark departure from its historical reliance on gross job creation targets.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security recently issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Human Resources and Social Security, covering the 2026 to 2030 period. The sweeping blueprint outlines mandatory targets to re-employ 25 million out-of-work urban residents and secure jobs for 6.5 million people from disadvantaged groups. It also mandates that the surveyed urban unemployment rate be capped at 5.5%.