BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- This was a livestream like no other! Instead of social media influencers, it featured HR managers from China's top tech giants like JD.com, Baidu and Alibaba stepping into the spotlight to unveil exclusive job openings, tackle burning questions about salaries and career growth, and even take viewers on virtual office tours. To top it off, young jobseekers received real-time career advice straight from employment counselors.
This event in June was part of a month-long online recruitment campaign launched by China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, which brought together more than 5,000 internet companies and offered over 200,000 job vacancies.
"The livestream recruitment helps bridge the information gap between employers and jobseekers, making it easier for us to find positions that truly match our skills," said Liu Weicai, a graduating student from the University of Science and Technology Beijing.
JD.com alone announced 25,000 openings across technology and sales. Tencent plans to recruit more than 8,000 people, covering artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and high-performance computing. ByteDance is hiring about 7,000 for positions related to large language models and AI search, among other areas.
The virtual job fair reflects a profound transformation that is unfolding in China's employment market.
Currently, the employment pressure remains high in China, with 12.7 million college graduates set to join the workforce this year. Meanwhile, rapid advances in technologies and the digital economy have reshaped labor demand, reducing the need for some traditional positions while creating a growing number of new occupations that require higher skills.
To meet these challenges head-on, China is rolling out targeted employment support and revamping college majors to empower young people to thrive in an ever-evolving labor market.
The central government recently launched a nationwide employment support campaign from July through December to provide career counseling, job matching, vocational training and internship opportunities for college graduates and other young jobseekers.
Local authorities and universities are also stepping up efforts. In east China's Jiangsu Province, authorities have established personalized assistance plans for more than 23,000 graduates facing employment difficulties.
In Beijing, representatives from 56 universities and more than 100 companies gathered in June to strengthen cooperation in graduate recruitment, internship programs and joint talent cultivation.
During the event, Zhao Yutong, a postgraduate student at Minzu University of China, visited company production lines and research facilities. "I realized the gap between what we learn in classrooms and what companies actually need. It gave me a much clearer understanding of my own career development," said Zhao.
In addition to near-term employment support, China is also reshaping how it trains the next generation of workers.
According to a report by MyCOS, a higher education consulting firm, electrical engineering, automation, and new energy science and engineering were among the most sought-after undergraduate majors on the job market this year. These disciplines closely align with China's expanding industrial chains and accelerating technological innovation, the report said.
To better match the changing industrial demand, the Ministry of Education in April added 38 new undergraduate majors, ranging from energy science and engineering and agricultural robotics to frontier fields such as bio-manufacturing and brain-computer science and technology.
Beyond creating new majors, China has also introduced more flexible learning models that respond faster to technological advances and shifting industry needs.
At Xi'an University of Science and Technology, mining engineering student Guo Haifeng completed a "micro-major" in intelligent monitoring technologies for high-pressure mining, combining traditional mining engineering with AI and big data applications.
"The program broadened my skill set, allowing me to combine traditional mining engineering with intelligent technologies," Guo said, adding that the experience helped him secure his ideal job.
The Ministry of Education launched in 2025 an initiative to establish 1,000 micro-majors and 1,000 vocational skills training courses to equip students with industry-oriented skills, which has benefited more than 1 million students so far.
This year, additional micro-majors focusing on AI, the low-altitude economy and intelligent connected vehicles have been introduced.
Beyond the education policies, China has stepped up top-level planning to ensure that talent development is better aligned with real-world needs.
The State Council in June unveiled a five-year plan dedicated specifically to employment. The plan highlighted employment as a top priority, calling for coordinated macro policies and better adaptation to the age of AI.
As technology keeps reshaping the economy and employment, a proactive response to the changes will help align the employment environment, job supply and workers' skills with the direction of technological development, said Zhao Zhong, dean of the School of Labor and Human Resources at Renmin University of China.
Experts expect the country will continue to bolster economic development and foster stronger synergy between industrial development and employment in a bid to create more sustainable job opportunities. ■
