By Olivia

T he World Bank pointed out in the newly-released Global Economic Outlook that the global GDP in 2020 would contract by 4.3%， with the COVID-19 pandemic triggering the most severe global recession in the past few decades. Economists say that the global labor market will continue to be sluggish until 2021， or maybe even longer. According to a survey carried out by the International Labor Organization， the COVID-19 pandemic has caused wage cuts in two thirds of the worlds countries. As the worlds only major economy with positive economic growth， China has achieved V-shaped economic recovery based on its successful virus control and prevention. The Chinese GDP surpassed RMB 100 trillion for the first time in 2020， which laid a solid foundation for the continuous recovery in 2021.

The 2021 Labor Market Insight and Payment Guidance released by Career International points out that China has achieved great success during the period of the 13th Five-Year Plan and that this has acted as a blueprint for the 14th FiveYear Plan period. The new development pattern is undergoing rapid construction and the concept of high-quality development has been further implemented. The industry chain， supply chain and value chain continue to be upgraded， and corporate earnings have also continued to increase. The production forecasts are improving， which has brought a positive influence to the labor market.

New infrastructural construction breeds new opportunities

In 2020， the central government proposed a plan for accelerated construction of 5G networks， data centers and other new infrastructure， in order to promote economic structural adjustments， achieve a shift in the economic driving force and advance high-quality development. Against this background， local governments have been drawing up the digital economic blueprint. 5G， cloud computing， big data， artificial intelligence and industrial networks have all been growing fast， and companies have expanded their business in these areas. This has caused a shortage of talent in the area of information technology， and such talent will be the target of many big companies.

In the area of chip technology， Si/GaN new material R&D experts， DRAM R&D experts， and IC R&D experts would receive annual salaries of RMB 0.8-1.5 million and this would increase by 50% after changing jobs. Talent in data platform development， data application development and data products are also highly popular， and the annual salary of some senior engineers has already surpassed RMB 1.5 million. As local governments are constructing smart cities and have made policies to support cloud computing services， there is also a shortage of high-level talent in cloud computing， IoT （internet of things） platform architecture， solutions and smart operation. The annual salary for certain positions has already surpassed RMB 2 million and the rise in pay after changing jobs will be 40%.

Demand for talent in digital transition and online scenarios continues to rise

The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the early arrival of the digital era. Between 2020 and 2021， many sectors have begun to see the expansion of their online business， and faster integration of different industries. Digital technologies are reshaping the value of the whole industrial chain and have become the driving force of economic growth. In terms of industrial inter-connection， the virus has provided opportunities for the growth of online medical services and medical e-commerce has been booming. As intelligent connection has been empowering the digital transition of automobile companies， the demand for talent in the areas of intelligent upgrading， digital marketing and smart factories has risen. In the financial sector， fin-tech talent is in demand. The pay rise for technology R&D positions is higher than the industry average.

In the area of consumption connection， livestreaming and short videos have been booming. Livestreaming e-commerce has changed the scenes and logic behind consumption. Many companies have invested more in livestreaming e-commerce and the group of livestreamers is gradually becoming more diversified. Internet marketer and livestreaming seller have been incorporated into the new position list released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. The annual salary for excellent livesteaming， short video operation， vertical operation and social e-commerce representatives has surpassed RMB 0.5 million， with pay rises after changing jobs being more than 20%. Moreover， the online education sector is also embracing a golden period. The pandemic has made users get accustomed to online education. A lot of capital and talent have entered the K12 and children AI online education sector. Teaching positions have become quite popular and the demand for highly-qualified teachers is also rising. The pay rise for changing teaching jobs will reach 50%.

Regional integration promotes congregation and sharing of talent

In recent years， the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have produced a series of national strategies aimed at promoting regional integration， and have proposed building the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city cluster， the Changjiang Delta city cluster and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Gulf region into world-class city clusters. During the period of the 14th Five-Year Plan， China will stick to the regional coordination development strategy and main functional region strategy， so as to improve the systems and mechanisms for regional development.

Propelled by both policies and industry， regional connectivity and mutual recognition have facilitated the free flow and efficient distributions of talent， forming an “industry+talent”ecological circle and promoting the sharing of talent in local regions. As multinational companies and domestic flagship companies build headquarters in local regions， in order to fully integrate into the local economy， such moves have raised the demand for and caused the congregation of regional talent. From a general perspective， senior managers and high-end technical experts are still popular positions. The gap between the salaries of certain positions in first tier cities and in regional areas continues to narrow， and many local governments have set up monitoring mechanisms for urgentlyneeded talent and have issued specific policies to attract more talent. The pay rise for changing jobs is normally more than 20%. The annual salary for CTO and digital experts may reach RMB 2 million.

Innovation， growth， recovery and transformation constitute key capabilities of talent

The COVID-19 pandemic has made companies better understand how to cope with change， stay flexible， drive growth and promote innovation. Such deep recognition has brought about a new demand for organizational talent capabilities. Talented employees with R&D innovation and operation capabilities are the most popular in different sectors. In the pharmaceutical sector， the traditional growth model has been facing big challenges. As innovation has become the key to winning the competition， this has lead to shortages of talent in the areas of product innovation， sales model innovation and interaction innovation. As the network data flow benefits reach their peak， companies focus on innovation has also risen to a historical high. The demand for talentscapabilities are now being increased much more quickly.

The cross development of different sectors and cultures has become the new normal. The internet has been closely connected with the automobile， finance and intelligent manufacturing sectors. Talent with networking mindsets and a wide knowledge of traditional industries will be highly popular. In order to prevent business risks and achieve high-quality development， companies tend to set higher standards for the academic background and soft capabilities of talents and accelerate the optimization of current staff teams to improve the overall quality of human resources. Talent with the ability to apply their successful experiences to new areas will be extremely popular in the job market.

Pay rises return to normal

Impacted by the external environment， the focus of the job market has shifted away from high-speed growth towards high-quality development during 2020-2021. The distribution of talent tends to be more polarized at present. Approximately 30% of the prestigious talent are the focus of competition between many companies. The average job seekers is now faced with a difficult situation. Some high-salary sectors， including the internet， finance and real estate， are facing market reshuffles and an over-supply of talent for certain positions.

Digital and online business have has a heavy impact on employees in traditional sectors， withjob cuts occurring frequently. Besides booming sectors and scarce talent， the average pay level of the entire market is decreasing. Companies demand for talent and positional standards are becoming more clear， reasonable and targeted. They seem to be focusing more on the cost effectiveness of talent.

Furthermore， job candidates favor stable and well-regulated companies. The proportion of passive job searches and hiring rejection notifications keeps rising. People have become more prudent when changing jobs as the external uncertainties have increased. Sustainable development， risk prevention capability， corporate culture and employee experiences are the most important factors for jobseekers. People working for private businesses are willing to change jobs to state-owned or national companies. Sometimes they are also even willing to choose better platforms at the cost of salary cuts.