Recruiter: IT, Internet are where jobs are

A college graduate looks at a job listing during a job fair on June 7 in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province. The fair was exclusively for 2014 college graduates. [Provided to China Daily]

Demand for talent in the information technology and Internet industries rose in the third quarter of the year, while the need in real estate-related industries weakened, Zhaopin.com, China's largest recruiting website, reported on Thursday.

Demand in the IT and Internet sector led the third quarter's human resource market with a year-on-year growth of 40 percent, according to Zhaopin.com's report.

The biggest news in September was the initial public offering of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Zhaopin.com said in its report. Other Internet giants as well as smaller players are also investing in human resources, an example being Baidu Inc's recent hire of Zhang Yaqin, a former top Microsoft executive, as the president for new business.

"Not just the senior managers, but skilled middle-level talent is also in great demand in the IT industry," said Jason Wang, managing partner of Experis, part of Manpower Group, a global human resource consulting firm.

Wang said some smaller enterprises would like to poach talent from the giants because of their superior skills and education background.

Meanwhile, new reforms of China's financing, tax and distribution systems pushed the development of new sectors, such as the service industry, and added many jobs to the marketplace.

"The first half of 2014 saw a much looser environment for starting a new business," Zhaopin.com said in its report.

From January to August, more than 8 million new companies registered, and the number of new registered enterprises between March and August had a 61 percent yearly rise, which added more than 10 million jobs, Premier Li Keqiang said at the Summer Davos in Tianjin last month.

IT and Internet companies occupied a large share of the new registered companies, Zhaopin.com said, which explains why the industry topped the list of talent demand growth in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, growth of human resource demand in real estates industries waned as the industry slumped.

Real estate companies' talent demand growth "dived" to 10th place on Zhaopin.com's list in the third quarter.

During the period, real estate human resources needs rose by only 8 percent compared with the previous year, and it was the only industry among the top 10 with a rate lower than 10 percent, the website said.

The International Monetary Fund reported that China will face a recessionary real estate industry.

Job recruitment in China was uneven in the third quarter, as smaller cities became the main players in the market, according to Zhaopin.com.

The growth of third- and fourth-tier cities' human resources demand reached 29 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period of 2013, while the yearly rise in big cities was only 19 percent.

"As some urbanization policies are carried out, we can forecast that the demands from smaller cities will continue to go up in the next few years," Zhaopin.com noted.