Greater challenges ahead in 2023 to stabilize jobs and livelihoods

China's employment situation has remained generally stable since the start of this year despite repeated COVID-19 outbreaks and several "black swan" events. However, the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas continues to fluctuate, and the structural employment problem remains acute.

Estimates say there will be 11.58 million graduates in 2023, a new high and 820,000 more than the year before. This means that stabilizing jobs in 2023 is going to be an arduous task.

Employment is the fundamental guarantor of people's livelihoods. In the face of increased downward pressure on the economy, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has accelerated the implementation of a series of policies to help enterprises solve difficulties, stabilize and expand jobs. At the same time, it has further improved employment services, strengthened support for entrepreneurship, expanded vocational skills training, and, in particular, taken targeted measures to ensure the employment of key groups.

Latest data show that 10.01 million new urban jobs were created in the first three quarters of 2022, contributing a lot to stabilizing the country's employment situation. By the end of September, various kinds of employment subsidies the authorities issued had reduced the burden on enterprises by more than 280 billion yuan ($40.11 billion), and information about more than 100 million jobs were released. However, it should be noted that in the first 10 months, the average surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.6 percent, with the monthly highest exceeding 6 percent, and the employment pressure on young people has, in particular, risen even faster, with the surveyed unemployment rate of those aged 16 to 24 reaching 19.9 percent in July. More policy measures should be taken to help this group.

The top authorities recently pointed out that the country will make greater efforts to stabilize growth, employment and prices, which is also the policy direction of stabilizing the economy. Restoring the confidence of businesses and workers as soon as possible is the key. Next year, the country should work harder in various aspects to stabilize employment. It should continue to help businesses regain confidence in development and maintain existing jobs, do everything possible to create new jobs through policy-driven, project-driven and market-driven efforts, and promote the healthy development of flexible employment on the premise of ensuring the rights and interests of workers.