Mainland China’s job market appears to be tightening, with 19.08 percent of companies included in recruitment agency Liepin’s latest survey indicating they plan to cut staff numbers in the first quarter. That’s up from 12.47 percent a year ago.
The survey, cited by the South China Morning Post, shows that 30.85 percent of companies planned to increase their workforces during the first three months of the year, significantly lower than the 39.3 percent in the same period of 2024.
Guangzhou-based human resources specialist Luo Dongrong told the Post that the first quarter tended to set the tone for annual hiring. “Businesses typically expand during this period, and after Lunar New Year, job mobility rises as more people seek new opportunities,” she said.
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Liepin’s report also revealed that while demand for local staff was shrinking, demand for overseas hires was growing fast. Just over 15 percent of firms in its survey said they planned to increase offshore recruitment during the first quarter of 2025, more than double the 7.26 percent saying that for the same period last year.
The Post had previously reported that Chinese companies were rushing to set up shop in emerging markets like the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa to help mitigate sluggish consumption at home. Liepin’s report noted that almost 30 percent of its surveyed firms sought offshore hires as part of their global expansion plans last year.
In addition, some domestic sectors are growing, notably the film industry, boosted by the runaway success of the Chinese feature film Ne Zha 2, which became the highest grossing animated film of all time last week. According to the online recruitment platform Zhaopin, demand for film production roles increased by 16.8 percent in the second week after the Lunar New Year holiday, compared with the week prior.
