Hiring Fell in China's Internet Sector For First Time in Second Quarter
Guo Jinhui
DATE:  Jul 20 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Hiring Fell in China's Internet Sector For First Time in Second Quarter Hiring Fell in China's Internet Sector For First Time in Second Quarter

(Yicai Global) July 20 -- Recruitment in China's internet industry slumped 6 percent annually in the second quarter this year, marking the first time that demand for talent has fallen in the sector.

Hiring in China's online gaming sector also cooled last quarter for the first time with a 7 percent fall, according to a second-quarter report jointly issued by Renmin University's China Institute for Employment Research and careers site Zhaopin.

The current decline in employment demand in the internet sector is related to the lifecycle of startup companies, Zeng Xiangquan, director of CIER, told Yicai Global in an interview. Such firms are increasingly streamlining their talent structure in response to the impact of artificial intelligence technology, as well as the need for business upgrades, innovations and transformation.

As for market factors, the internet traffic dividends have gradually declined, and network software and gaming have encountered bottlenecks in terms of user growth. Employment demand has fallen due to the increasingly cut-throatcompetition among internet firms and profit-squeezes.

The internet and e-commerce segment ranked third in the CIER's second quarter report for job growth, falling from second in the last edition.

Falling Jobs in Finance

The work climate index in China's finance sector, including fund, securities, futures and investment, has edged down to 2.92 in the second quarter from 3.08 in the first as a result of the macro-control measures adopted by the government. The industry has fallen to ninth in the terms of employment opportunities with vacancies plummeting by more than one-third, having previously been a permanent fixture in the top three.

If banking, trusts and other subsectors are taken into account, overall recruitment demand across the financial sector has fallen by around 30 percent annually, the report shows.

The national work climate index in the second quarter declined overall from the first quarter. The regional employment situation is most bleak in the country's northeast, followed by western, central and eastern China.

The southern Pearl River Delta, home to the first-tier cities of Shenzhen and Guangdong, continued to exhibit growth with jobs rising by more than one-quarter in the quarter, well above the national average level of 12 percent. By contrast, job growth in the Yangtze River Delta region which includes Shanghai and the northern Bohai Economic Rim was 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

Editor: William Cleg

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Keywords:   Employment Analysis,Internet Sector,Financial Sector,Regional