MK sports Korea East China's Shandong Province, on February 4, 2025. Multiple Chinese localities have been holding recruitment events amid the long holiday as people return to big cities from their hometowns. Photo: VCG" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2025/2025-02-04/fd2273c1-87b1-4afd-9d9c-e328c630d4ce.jpeg" />

Job seekers learn about vacancies at a job fair held during the Chinese Spring Festival in Gaomi, East China's Shandong Province, on February 4, 2025. Multiple Chinese localities have been holding recruitment events amid the long holiday as people return to big cities from their hometowns. Photo: VCG

As production for the Year of the Snake officially kicked off after the Spring Festival holidays, multiple Chinese localities have been carrying out recruitment events under the nationwide "Spring Breeze Action" campaign to boost post-holiday employment. 

Qingdao in East China's Shandong Province officially launched its Spring Breeze Action on Saturday, which expected to serve a total of 12,000 enterprises and fill more than 120,000 job vacancies, the Qingdao Daily reported on Sunday. 

East China's Zhejiang Province, one of China's economic powerhouses, also launched its Spring Breeze Action plan, with more than 1,000 on-site recruitment events to be held before the middle of March. A total of 691 events were launched during the holidays, as 21,200 enterprises participated, 473,100 positions were announced and 78,900 job seekers reached preliminary agreements with employers, local news outlet tidenews.com.cn reported. 

In addition, 111 recruitment teams from Zhejiang held events outside of the province, posting 96,400 jobs, while bringing 13,300 workers from other places back to their jobs in the province, per the report. 

In Central China's Hunan Province, 623 on-site and 298 online recruitment events had been held as of Thursday, with 578,000 jobs posted during on-site events and 225,000 vacancies being offered through online activities, according to a report from China Media Group on Saturday. 

Eight Chinese departments, including the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, jointly launched this year's Spring Breeze Action in January, lasting from mid-January to mid-March. The action focuses on providing employment services to rural workers who are willing to work and start their own businesses, and to employers who have a need for labor, the Xinhua News Agency reported.  

Post-holiday recruitment demand remains stable thanks to the implementation of the Spring Breeze Action as well as improving expectations for the overall economy, Li Changan, a professor at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies at the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Li noted that Chinese localities had rolled out consumption stimulus programs before the Spring Festival holidays, and the measures have shown an effect. "Growing consumption has led to increasing job demand for related sectors such as the services industry, which is an important factor contributing to the relatively active job market," Li said. 

In terms of industries that are in high demand for workers, Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin School of Administration, told the Global Times on Sunday that different regions have different demands, while highlighting the increasing demand for digital sectors and emerging industries amid the rapid development of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). 

Notably, a recruitment event under the Spring Breeze Action was held in Lishui district in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province on Thursday, as 3,600 high-quality jobs were offered in the fields of manufacturing, new energy and AI, according to a report on the province's official website. 

In the engineering machinery, chemical materials and strategic emerging industries, many listed Chinese companies began to rush orders after the holidays, which led to up to tens of thousands of job opportunities at some companies, the Shanghai Securities News reported. 

Li expected policies aimed at boosting domestic demand and the "employment first" policy to play major roles in further stabilizing employment. Bolstering domestic demand will also contribute to steady economic growth, which is a significant foundation for stabilizing employment, Li said. 

Moreover, Cong stressed the importance of stepping up training and education for emerging industries to better adjust to the upgrading and transforming labor market. 

The employment situation remained generally stable in 2024, and in 2025, more efforts will be needed to maintain stable employment due to the challenges facing the economy and job market, Fu Linghui, a spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics said at a press conference in January, according to Xinhua.  

He added that employment support programs will be rolled out for key sectors, industries, urban and rural communities, and small and medium-sized enterprises to promote employment among targeted groups and ensure overall stability in the job market.