(Yicai Global) Jan. 31 -- A recruitment event organized by the Chinese government to connect job seekers with employers will resume this year, after a three-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is expected to fill 30 million positions.

Known as Chunfeng Xingdong, the job fair is held nationwide with different provinces holding the event at different times during the year. Co-organized by the State Council, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and seven other central government bodies, it mainly targets rural laborers, those having difficulty finding jobs and employers with strong recruitment needs.

Many industry events will be held at the job fairs in tandem with online recruitment, Zhang Ying, director of the MHRSS’ department of employment promotion, said at a press conference before the week-long Chinese New Year holiday started on Jan. 22.

The smart manufacturing, new energy-related equipment, electronic information and automobile sectors are all actively hiring, according to Yicai Global research.

And the manufacturing industry in particular is short of labor. Almost 300 firms based in Dongguan, a manufacturing hub in southern Guangdong province, are advertising for 16,000 factory workers and many are offering a starting salary of between CNY5,000 (USD740) and CNY6,000 per month.

Many of the economic hubs in the east of the country, such as Beijing and Shanghai as well as southeastern Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, are having to offer incentives to lure workers, such as by offering free transport back to the city after the Spring Festival break and subsidizing the hiring of staff by big companies. Provinces where migrant workers are based are in talks with those provinces that are hiring, Zhang said.

Just over half of those polled by Zhilian Zhaopin said the companies where they work plan to expand their headcount this year, according to a survey by the recruitment platform. Some 19.8 percent of them said their firms will boost staff numbers by between 25 percent and 50 percent and 18.8 percent said by up to 25 percent. While 31.3 percent said their firms will keep hiring on the same scale and 13.5 percent said they will offer fewer new jobs.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor