China Labor Market Index of Job Vacancies Fell in the First Quarter of 2018
China Labor Market Index of Job Vacancies Fell in the First Quarter of 2018
BEIJING, April 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Zhaopin Limited ("Zhaopin" or the "Company"), a leading career platform in China focused on matching talent with skills and opportunities through their career lifecycle, and the China Institute for Employment Research ("CIER") at Renmin University of China released the CIER Employment Index Report for the first quarter of 2018.
After the Chinese New Year holiday, the number of job seekers jumped significantly in this busiest season for job hopping in China. Meanwhile, job openings declined over the previous quarter. As a result, the CIER index dropped sharply to 1.91 in the first quarter of 2018, which means there were 1.91 job vacancies for each unique job seeker. The CIER index in the first quarter was far below the record high of 2.91 in the fourth quarter of 2017, but kept at the same level compared with first quarter of 2017.
China's first-quarter 2018 labor market highlights:
-- With surging job seekers and declining job openings, the CIER index
dropped sharply to 1.91 in the first quarter of 2018, but kept at the
same level compared with first quarter of 2017.
-- Internet and e-commerce sector slowed down significantly in the first
quarter with CIER index plummeting to 5.05, less than half the 10.24
recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017. It lost the "best performing
sector" crown for the first time since the third quarter of 2015. The
intermediary services industry became the best-performing sector in the
first quarter of 2018 with a CIER index of 6.28.
-- Eastern China enjoyed the highest CIER index score of 1.58, followed by
1.40 for Central China and 1.19 for Western China.
-- The CIER index was above 1 for second- and third-tier cities, while the
index was below 1 for first and emerging first-tier cities.
-- The labor market competition for job seekers is expected to ease and the
CIER index is likely to go up slightly in the second quarter of 2018.
CIER index adjusted with seasonality
Spring is the traditional peak season for job hopping in China, and campus recruitment for college graduates also started in the first quarter, which led to a surge in labor supply over the previous quarter. However, the job openings actually declined over the fourth quarter of 2017, pushing the CIER index down to 1.91 in the first quarter of 2018. Even though the index was much lower than the record high of 2.91 in the fourth quarter of 2017, it maintained the same level as the first quarter of 2017.
According to Zhaopin's data, total online recruitment demand in China rose 17% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2018.
CIER index by sectors
The gap between the best-performing sector and worst-performing sector continued to narrow in the first quarter of 2018. The CIER index of the best performing sector was 10 times better than that of the worst performing sector, compared with 14 times gap in the fourth quarter of 2017.
The intermediary service outperformed all other sectors to become the best-performing sector in the first quarter of 2018 with a CIER index of 6.28. The internet/e-commerce sector fell to the second place, which was the first time this sector lost the top spot since the third quarter of 2015.
Ten best-performing sectors in the first quarter of 2018
--------------------------------------------------------
Ranking Sector CIER index
------- ------ ----------
1 Intermediary service 6.28
--- -------------------- ----
2 Internet/e-commerce 5.05
--- ------------------- ----
3 Insurance 4.89
--- --------- ----
4 Education/training/college 4.33
--- -------------------------- ----
5 Real estate/construction/building materials/engineering 4.27
--- ------------------------------------------------------- ----
6 Traffic/transportation 3.76
--- ---------------------- ----
7 Medicine/biological engineering 3.27
--- ------------------------------- ----
8 Funds/securities/futures/investment 3.08
--- ----------------------------------- ----
9 Hotel/restaurant 2.92
--- ---------------- ----
10 Outsourcing service 2.88
--- ------------------- ----
Most of the worst-performing sectors were traditional manufacturing industries suffering from over-capacity, including energy/mineral/mining/smelting, environmental protection, and printing/packaging/papermaking. The CIER indexes for all of these under-performing sectors were below 1.
Ten worst-performing sectors in the first quarter of 2018
---------------------------------------------------------
Ranking Sector CIER index
------- ------ ----------
1 Energy/mineral/mining/smelting 0.61
--- ------------------------------ ----
2 Environmental protection 0.62
--- ------------------------ ----
3 Printing/packaging/papermaking 0.63
--- ------------------------------ ----
4 Office supplies and equipment 0.65
--- ----------------------------- ----
5 Instruments/apparatuses/industrial automation 0.73
--- --------------------------------------------- ----
6 Petroleum/petrochemical/chemical 0.75
--- -------------------------------- ----
7 Gifts/toys/arts and crafts/collection/luxuries 0.80
--- ---------------------------------------------- ----
8 Property management/business center 0.93
--- ----------------------------------- ----
9 Aerospace research and manufacturing 0.94
--- ------------------------------------ ----
10 Electricity/power/water conservancy 0.94
--- ----------------------------------- ----
The intermediary service sector became the best performing sector in the first quarter of 2018. While the job demand in most sectors dropped quarter-over-quarter, the demand in intermediary service increased by 12.7% in the first quarter over the previous quarter. The demand mostly came from the third-tier and below cities.
Year-over-year change in recruitment demand
for intermediary service sector in the first
quarter of 2018
---------------------------------------------
First-tier cities -33%
----------------- ---
Emerging first-tier cities -11%
-------------------------- ---
Second-tier cities 5%
------------------ ---
Third-tier cities 150%
----------------- ---
Fourth-tier cities 697%
------------------ ---
Fifth-tier cities 297%
----------------- ---
The IT and internet sector slowed down significantly in the first quarter with CIER index plummeting to 5.05, far below 10.24 in the fourth quarter of 2017. With high employee turnover rate in the sector, the job supply jumped by 20% quarter-over-over, but the demand plunged by 40% in the first quarter over the previous quarter.
Year-over-year change in recruitment demand
for IT/Internet sector in the first
quarter of 2018
-------------------------------------------
First-tier cities -6%
----------------- ---
Emerging first-tier cities 17%
-------------------------- ---
Second-tier cities -6%
------------------ ---
Third-tier cities 39%
----------------- ---
Fourth-tier cities 157%
------------------ ---
The real estate sector continued its fast growth in the first quarter of 2018 with job demand increasing by 40% year-over-year. The demand was moving from first-tier cities to lower tier cities.
Year-over-year change in recruitment demand
for real estate sector in the first quarter
of 2018
--------------------------------------------
First-tier cities -2%
----------------- ---
Emerging first-tier cities 37%
-------------------------- ---
Second-tier cities 26%
------------------ ---
Third-tier cities 114%
----------------- ---
Fourth-tier cities 416%
------------------ ---
The medicine/biological engineering sector was a new booming high-tech industry. The job demand in the sector surged by 36% year-over-year in the first quarter.
Year-over-year change in recruitment demand for
medicine/biological engineering sector in the
first quarter of 2018
-----------------------------------------------
First-tier cities 19%
----------------- ---
Emerging first-tier cities 33%
-------------------------- ---
Second-tier cities 12%
------------------ ---
Third-tier cities 62%
----------------- ---
Fourth-tier cities 208%
------------------ ---
CIER index by occupations
The best performing occupations in the first quarter of 2018 included mechanic/operator, sales, transportation service, and education/training.
Ten best-performing occupations in the first quarter of 2018
------------------------------------------------------------
Ranking Sector CIER index
------- ------ ----------
1 Mechanic/operator 27.63
--- ----------------- -----
2 Sales 12.64
--- ----- -----
3 Transportation service 11.31
--- ---------------------- -----
4 Education/training 7.67
--- ------------------ ----
5 Translation (oral and written) 7.36
--- ----------------------------- ----
6 Healthcare/beauty/hairdressing/bodybuilding 7.14
--- ------------------------------------------- ----
7 Supermarket/hotel/entertainment management/service 6.93
--- -------------------------------------------------- ----
8 Community/residency/housekeeping 6.62
--- -------------------------------- ----
9 Real estate development/broker/agency 6.46
--- ------------------------------------- ----
10 Software/internet development/system integration 6.42
--- ------------------------------------------------ ----
The worst performing occupations in the first quarter of 2018 were PR/media, IT management/project coordination, project management/coordination, and trust/warrant/auction/pawn.
Ten worst-performing occupations in the first quarter of 2018
-------------------------------------------------------------
Ranking Sector CIER index
------- ------ ----------
1 PR/media 0.85
--- -------- ----
2 IT management/project coordination 1.07
--- ---------------------------------- ----
3 Project management/coordination 1.07
--- ------------------------------- ----
4 Trust/warrant/auction/pawn 1.12
--- -------------------------- ----
5 Senior management 1.19
--- ----------------- ----
6 Environmental science/protection 1.26
--- -------------------------------- ----
7 Property management 1.28
--- ------------------- ----
8 Advertising/event/expo 1.33
--- ---------------------- ----
9 Sales/business administration 1.36
--- ----------------------------- ----
10 Manufacturing management/operation 1.37
--- ---------------------------------- ----
CIER index by regions and cities([1])
In the first quarter of 2018, Eastern China continued to enjoy the highest CIER index score of 1.58, followed by 1.40 for Central China and 1.19 for Western China. Even though the CIER indexes for these regions declined from the previous quarter, they were basically on the same level from the first quarter of last year.
However, the labor market in Northeast China continued to deteriorate in first the quarter with CIER index dropping to 0.89, below the watershed of 1, which means there were fewer job vacancies than job seekers in the quarter.
CIER index by regions
---------------------
Region 4Q 2017 CIER 1Q 2018 CIER
------ ------------ ------------
Eastern China 2.57 1.58
------------- ---- ----
Central China 2.00 1.40
------------- ---- ----
Western China 1.74 1.19
------------- ---- ----
Northeast China 1.20 0.89
--------------- ---- ----
The CIER index was higher in smaller cities than that in large cities in the first quarter of 2018. Third-tier cities had the highest CIER index score of 1.83, while the first-tier cities suffered the lowest of 0.71.
CIER index by cities
--------------------
City 4Q 2017 CIER 1Q 2018 CIER
---- ------------ ------------
First-tier cities 0.85 0.71
----------------- ---- ----
Emerging first-tier cities 1.44 0.98
-------------------------- ---- ----
Second-tier cities 2.53 1.64
------------------ ---- ----
Third-tier cities 3.18 1.83
----------------- ---- ----
CIER index by size of companies
In the first quarter of 2018, large-sized companies had the highest CIER index of 1.91, followed by 1.27 for micro-sized companies and 1.01 for medium-sized companies.
CIER index by size of companies
-------------------------------
Company size 4Q 2017 CIER 1Q 2018 CIER
------------ ------------ ------------
Large-sized (more than 10,000
employees) 2.61 1.91
----------------------------- ---- ----
Medium-sized (500 to 9,999
employees) 1.39 1.01
-------------------------- ---- ----
Small-sized (20 to 499
employees) 1.34 0.85
---------------------- ---- ----
Micro-sized (fewer than 20
employees) 1.96 1.27
-------------------------- ---- ----
CIER index by type of companies
The CIER index for all types of companies declined in the first quarter of 2018. Public companies were the highest with CIER index of 1.14, followed by 1.04 for joint ventures.
CIER index by type of companies
-------------------------------
Company size 4Q 2017 CIER 1Q 2018 CIER
------------ ------------ ------------
Private companies 1.63 1.02
----------------- ---- ----
Shareholding companies 1.47 1.02
---------------------- ---- ----
State-owned enterprises 1.30 0.90
----------------------- ---- ----
Joint ventures 1.43 1.04
-------------- ---- ----
Public companies 1.50 1.14
---------------- ---- ----
Wholly foreign-owned
enterprises 0.93 0.74
-------------------- ---- ----
Labor market outlook
The labor market competition for job seekers is expected to ease and the CIER index is likely to go up slightly in the second quarter of 2018.
Methodology and how to interpret the data
Based on data from Zhaopin's online recruitment platform, the CIER index tracks the ratio changes between job vacancies and job seekers in a variety of industries and cities across the country, and identifies the overall trend in China's employment market. Jointly published by Zhaopin and the CIER at Renmin University of China every quarter, the CIER index has become a leading barometer of China's labor market and macro-economic environment.
The CIER index score is calculated by dividing the number of job vacancies during a specified period by the number of unique job seekers during the same period. A CIER index score of more than 1 indicates that the labor market is booming, with more vacancies than job seekers. A CIER index score of less than 1 indicates that the labor market competition is intensifying, with more job seekers than available vacancies.
[1] Cities are categorized to tiers
based on standard of CBN Weekly.
First-tier cities include
Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and
Shenzhen. Emerging first-tier
cities include Chengdu, Dalian,
Dongguan, Hangzhou, Nanjing,
Ningbo, Qingdao, Shenyang, Suzhou,
Tianjin, Wuhan, Xi'an, Changsha,
Zhengzhou, and Chongqing. Second-
tier cities include Changzhou,
Foshan, Fuzhou, Guiyang, Harbin,
Hefei, Huizhou, Jinan, Jiaxing,
Kunming, Nanchang, Nanning,
Nantong, Quanzhou, Shijiazhuang,
Taiyuan, Weifang, Wenzhou, Wuxi,
Xuzhou, Yantai, Yangzhou,
Changchun, Zhongshan, Zhuhai.
Third-tier cities include Baotou,
Daqing, Hohhot, Huai'an, Linyi,
Luoyang, Qinhuangdao, Weihai,
Xianyang and Zhenjiang.
For more information, please contact:
Zhaopin Limited
Ms. Serena Sun
roujia.sun@zhaopin.com.cn
ICR Beijing
Mr. Edmond Lococo
Phone: +86 10 6583-7510
Edmond.Lococo@icrinc.com
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SOURCE Zhaopin Limited
