AI wave reshaping nation's job market landscape

As more Chinese industry titans enter the realm of AI, their intensified scramble for talent by offering generous salary packages may prove the predictions by experts and industry insiders correct that AI is reshaping the domestic employment landscape over the spring recruitment season while also incubating more new job opportunities.

Alibaba started its spring internship hiring campaign in February by offering over 3,000 openings to fresh graduates, and nearly 50 percent of these internship openings are closely related to AI, such as in research and development and algorithms. Tencent launched its internship campaign in the same month with over 7,000 positions available to college students, and more than 60 percent of these positions focused on cutting-edge fields including AI, big data and cloud computing.

These companies' moves have epitomized China's intensified scramble for AI-focused talent after DeepSeek kicked off a national craze for AI earlier this spring. Meanwhile, jobseekers with a knowledge of or background in AI are also showing greater confidence in their prospects.

Li Qiang, vice-president of recruitment portal Zhaopin, said that the AI-focused job openings on the platform increased by 3 percent year-on-year in the week after the Spring Festival holiday ended in February, and notably those seeking employment as algorithm engineers surged by 125.5 percent year-on-year over that week.

Li added that Beijing, Shenzhen in Guangdong province and Hangzhou in Zhejiang province have formed a "golden triangle" for AI-focused talent.

Hesai Technology in Shanghai has shown growing interest in hiring talent with an AI background as the company develops light detection and ranging products mainly used in advanced driver assistance systems, robotics and autonomous driving.

Wu Qingliang, the company's head of recruitment, advised university students to take notice of developments in AI and find ways to build a connection between these and what they have learned.

Zhang Yu, who will graduate from the School of Computer Science and Technology of East China Normal University, recently submitted several resumes at a job fair in Shanghai. He said that the prospects offered by the industry are more important to him than salary. "If we say the past two decades were the era of the internet and the mobile internet, the next two decades will be the era of AI," he added.

Some traditional internet companies have also been actively seeking AI talent. Shi Jiajia, head of global campus recruitment at Chinese tourism portal Trip.com Group, emphasized a strong demand for AI skills and talent across various roles within the company.

She said that large internet companies mainly need talent for their R&D positions, including product development, algorithms and testing, with these roles closely related to the booming AI technology.

"Even if it is not an R&D position, employees are required to have AI-related skills, a learning ability, and a good adaptability to the new world," she added.

Li from Zhaopin added that many companies are reorganizing their business patterns amid the AI wave, and some of them are transforming from basic R&D of AI to the use and innovation of AI.

"Based on that, individuals who not only have a sound knowledge of AI but know the customers' exact requirements will become the most sought-after talent in the future. It's of great importance for jobseekers to combine their own advantages, skills or knowledge with AI, which will help them find new opportunities," he said.