AI boom brings major changes in employment market

Students program robots to perform kung fu during an AI class at a primary school in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Sept 4. LI HANCHI/FOR CHINA DAILY

While the boom in artificial intelligence is ushering in new job opportunities, experts are cautioning that it will also bring short-term pain and change for some skilled workers and professionals.

At the end of last month, China released a guideline that aims to promote high-quality and sufficient employment. It requested that authorities at all levels "actively respond to the impact of the rapidly developing emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, on employment".

Ni Ying, China head of the multinational human resources company The Adecco Group (TAG), said he was excited to learn about the guideline. "It is the first time that the central government has associated AI with the job market," Ni said. "This will help companies of our kind to expand our vision, reminding us to explore new opportunities while addressing challenges brought by the rapidly evolving technologies."

The Chinese job market has good prospects for candidates already armed with AI know-how.

According to the Chinese recruitment portal Zhaopin, employment vacancies for experts specializing in language processing related to large language models (LLMs) increased by 111 percent year-on-year in the first six months of this year.

The number of job openings for people with robot algorithm and deep-learning skills were up 76 percent and 61 percent respectively during the same period.

The leapfrog in development that AI technology has made over the past two years is undoubtedly the reason for the surging demand for such talent, experts from Zhaopin said.

The overall demand for AI talent has been on the rise in China. Market consultancy McKinsey &Company estimates that China will need 6 million professionals with proficient AI knowledge by 2030, which is six times the number in 2022. However, the talent gap may be as high as 4 million by that time.

But AI, like all the other technologies, is a double-edged sword. While some candidates are highly sought after thanks to their AI knowledge, others may find the emerging technology a threat to their job security.

Finance, audit, tax, translation, and banking positions will be the most affected by AI, said Guo Sheng, CEO of Zhaopin.