Editor's note: SAY WHAT? is an original video series CGTN Digital presented for the upcoming Two Sessions. Each episode introduces one key word that will be frequently mentioned and discussed during the sessions. Hope this is an easier start for you to better understand China's important annual political event. The key word in this episode: New Professions.
AI trainer, VR engineer and drone fixer… You may not be familiar with these workers yet, but very soon they will be part of your daily life.
In early 2020, the Chinese government recognized 16 new professions, mainly from the technology, service, and healthcare sectors, a decision that has big implications.
For example, people who deliver food or other goods ordered online have been officially given the name online-order deliveryman, a recognition of their fundamental role in daily life today.
Part of AI trainer's job is to help create the voice assistant in your smart phone. The demand for AI trainers in one single Chinese internet company is now over 200,000.
The new jobs are closely related to our daily life, although some of them sound futuristic with big data and AI functionalities. They are parts of new business models and reflect new demands on the labor market.
Giving official names to the new professions has several benefits.
First, workers get higher social recognition and better social welfare. That means they may be more willing to stay and specialize in the field.
Second, it leads to systematic training schemes. If the jobs are in high demand, more people are likely to pay for training.
Third, it helps evaluation of skills and achievements by setting up a professional standard system. And this starts from getting an official title.
The announcement brings hope to the more than eight million new Chinese college graduates this summer, with the labor market hit by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Experts estimate that 5G technology will bring 8 million new jobs in the coming 10 years, and make direct economic output of 6.3 trillion yuan (888 billion U.S. dollars).
Giving names to new professions is part of China's "employment priority policy."
It is a series of macro-economic measures issued in 2019 which aim to stabilize the labor market, improve vocational training, promote new employment and give support to small- and medium-sized enterprises.
This is a long-term strategy, in the face of new changes and new demands in new sectors.
The good news is in 2019 over 13 million people were newly employed in China's urban areas, and the unemployment rate was as low as 3.62 percent.
A stable labor market brings hope to society. Unfortunately, this year's coronavirus has caused problems.
Migrant workers couldn't return to cities. Enterprises were operating under capacity. And new placements were reduced. This brings unprecedented pressures to China's labor market.
How to reverse the situation? How can the "employment priority policy" help in the future? These will be major tasks for the NPC deputies and the top political advisors at this year's Two Sessions, and let's keep an eye to the up-coming sessions.
Anchor: Liu Chen
Editor: Wu Yan, Liu Chen
Copy Editor: John Goodrich
Producer: Zhang Xiaohe
Senior Consultant: Dr. Xia Jixuan
Chief Editor: Chen Ran
Supervisor: Zhang Shilei