"High-quality full employment" is a key objective outlined in the 2026 Government Work Report and is designated as a "priority goal for economic and social development" in the 15th Five-Year Plan. This goal is crucial not only for national economic development, social stability, and long-term prosperity but also directly impacts the well-being of individuals and families. Against the backdrop of developing new quality productive forces, how to optimize employment structures and enhance quality through model innovation and technological empowerment has become a focal point for society.
During the peak job-hunting and recruitment season, young people face the dual pressures of a challenging job market and widespread anxiety about job displacement due to the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in recent years. On the corporate side, as cost reduction, efficiency enhancement, and digital transformation advance simultaneously, labor demand is undergoing profound changes. There is a rising need for highly skilled and versatile talent, while some traditional roles are being reduced or restructured. This has led to a structural contradiction where "difficulties in hiring" and "difficulties in finding employment" coexist, highlighting the increasing complexity of employment issues.
Consequently, the human resources services industry, serving as a critical link between supply and demand, faces new challenges. These include how to allocate talent resources more efficiently and help companies build organizational resilience and unleash human potential amid uncertainty.
In a recent interview, Zhang Jianguo, founder of RENRUI HR (06919.HK) and CEO of Ruihua Zhiche, shared his insights on these industry hotspots.
"People are not replaced by AI; their efficiency is amplified."
How is "high-quality full employment" understood?
This is a significant issue, especially during this critical phase of China's economic transformation and amid major breakthroughs in AI technology gradually integrating into production and daily life. It encompasses two core concepts. First, "high-quality" refers to enterprises transitioning from low-cost, low-value production to high-tech, high-value-added production. From a consumption perspective, it involves advancing towards high-end modern services, whose share in the economy inevitably increases as society develops.
Second, "full employment" is a systemic social issue. Achieving it requires sufficient job opportunities, which fundamentally stem from enterprise growth. As businesses thrive, they create more positions. Additionally, employment patterns are evolving, with more individuals pursuing self-employment and flexible work arrangements, especially among younger generations.
In essence, employment forms are diversifying for individuals, while用工 models are becoming more varied for enterprises, leading to a more flexible and market-driven labor allocation mechanism. However, the current reality presents a mismatch: companies struggle to find suitable candidates, while many job seekers remain unemployed, primarily due to discrepancies in supply-demand alignment and skill compatibility.
What structural changes are occurring in corporate hiring and employment from the demand side?
Based on practical experience, corporate employment structures exhibit three main characteristics. First, business models are iterating rapidly, necessitating quick organizational adjustments in response to fast-changing external environments. Second, human resource配置 must be dynamically adapted to keep pace with organizational evolution. Third,用工 models are increasingly diversified. While core talent is still cultivated in-house or sourced via headhunters, non-core roles often utilize outsourcing, collaboration, or project-based arrangements. China already has tens of millions of flexible workers. Ultimately, companies increasingly emphasize "rapid talent assembly."
What role does AI play in these changes, and will its development lead to mass unemployment?
This is a topic of significant concern and anxiety. Technology serves humanity, and AI, in essence, does not replace humans. Historically, from steam engines to electricity, computers to the internet, each technological revolution has not eliminated jobs but created more opportunities. AI follows the same logic. However, for individuals, AI brings two changes: the transformation of certain roles, with highly repetitive tasks being automated, and elevated requirements for human capabilities, such as creativity, emotional communication, and complex decision-making. AI does not render people jobless but alters the nature of work.
AI also influences corporate用工 practices. Internal employment will evolve towards human-machine collaboration. In future organizations, employees' efficiency will be amplified, enabling one person to accomplish the work of three or five individuals. This enhances corporate efficiency, reduces labor costs, and expands profit margins, incentivizing businesses to actively adopt AI.
The recent rise of the "OPC" (One-Person Company) model, where a founder utilizes multiple AI agents to handle tasks previously done by teams, seems to contrast with human resources services. Is this a逆向 trend?
No, the OPC model is not a reversal but a new manifestation of more flexible, diverse, and autonomous employment forms, aligning with the broader direction of human resources services. Thanks to AI advancements, self-employment may become more common, but it hinges on one's ability to independently sustain oneself with marketable skills. Concurrently, this new organizational model generates demand for talent matching, compliance services, skill training, and platform integration—areas where human resources services are essential.
Moreover, large-scale, structured organizations remain the market mainstream, as complex products like cars and smartphones cannot be produced by individuals or small groups. As long as规模化 industrial companies exist, the demand for human resources management services will persist.
"Market opportunities abound, hinging on service capabilities."
What market opportunities exist for the human resources services industry under the goal of high-quality full employment?
The human resources services industry offers numerous opportunities. For instance, there is currently a market gap for at least 10 million digital technology professionals. A single HR service company addressing even 10,000 or 100,000 of these mismatches could capture a significant market share. Opportunities are plentiful, but success depends on having effective solutions and service capabilities.
As most companies emphasize cost reduction and efficiency gains, focusing on actual profit growth, what role can human resources management play?
Traditional views prioritize revenue-generating roles like sales and product development, but a company's core asset is its people. In the AI era, as resource dividends shift to value dividends, value enhancement relies on talent and technological innovation. Integrating human resources management with R&D innovation can significantly boost corporate operational efficiency.
For example, to address a tech company's challenges with unquantifiable R&D costs and low team efficiency, RENRUI HR implemented a digital management system. This system customized functions for managerial roles, established clear project metrics, and optimized the allocation of R&D personnel to balance workloads. It accurately tracked project costs—including labor, travel, and equipment—enforcing strict budget controls and providing real-time visibility into costs and outcomes. Additionally, it used work hours and contribution data to calculate fair bonuses, incentivize employees precisely, and clarify promotion paths. Ultimately, the company optimized 20% of its 6,000+ R&D staff, saving over 300 million yuan in labor costs.
RENRUI HR publicly announced in 2021 its aim to develop "digital talent" as its "second growth curve." Has this strategy been successful?
Yes, unequivocally. This new business segment, starting from scratch, achieved scale within just five years, becoming the company's fastest-growing and highest-margin sector. It quickly ascended to the industry's first tier, transitioning from exploration to规模化. According to 2025 financial data, the Digital Technology and Cloud Services business became RENRUI HR's fastest-growing flexible staffing segment, with a 38.3% year-on-year increase, contributing 30.1% of group revenue, amounting to 1.659 billion yuan.
Furthermore, RENRUI HR's digital technology talent business is expanding rapidly into overseas markets, exceeding expectations. Internationalization presents a substantial opportunity.
Amid the wave of Chinese companies going global, what opportunities are seen in overseas markets?
International expansion is not an impulsive decision but is driven by recognized potential. Many Chinese enterprises are venturing abroad with long-term global strategies, including state-owned enterprises, autonomous driving firms, smartphone manufacturers, and tech companies.
Currently, RENRUI HR primarily serves Chinese companies. As they expand overseas, we can extend our domestic service capabilities to these international markets.
To date, we have established subsidiaries in 24 countries and regions worldwide, with international business entering a phase of rapid growth. The company's 2025 financial report disclosed international revenue of approximately 76.8 million yuan, a 292% year-on-year increase.
What primarily drove the significant growth in international business last year?
This is directly related to market dynamics. As numerous Chinese companies, especially large enterprises, expand overseas, they encounter challenges related to local culture, legal compliance, and personnel recruitment and management. They seek professional HR services, and having already served these clients domestically, RENRUI HR's proven capabilities naturally lead to collaboration opportunities. In 2026, we plan further expansion into Europe, the US, Japan, and other regions, with several client projects underway. The international business segment is expected to maintain a multiple-fold growth trend.
"2026 will be a watershed year for the human resources services industry."
What will be the key focus of competition for human resources service firms this year?
2026 will mark a watershed for the human resources services industry and particularly for RENRUI HR. We are poised to create a new growth driver, potentially a "third growth curve," offering higher-value professional services to corporate clients.
The company's first phase addressed "whether a company has enough people." The second phase, focused on digital talent, solved "whether a company has the right technical talent." The third phase will tackle "how people can create higher profits."
For corporate clients, cost reduction and efficiency gains are inevitable, but the room for further "cost reduction" optimization is narrowing amid fierce competition and organizational changes. Therefore, starting in 2026, companies should focus more on sustained value creation. "Revenue expansion" is the true driver of continuous growth.
Regarding this "third growth curve" and solving "how people create higher profits," what specific actions is the company taking?
In the latter half of last year, we established a consulting firm named Ruihua Zhiche, which will officially launch operations this year. It will provide corporate clients with "management consulting + technology development" solutions, a approach we term "dual-drive."
Consulting services are not new. How does Ruihua Zhiche differ from traditional consulting firms?
Traditional consulting firms often offer solution frameworks but do not oversee implementation, leaving execution to the client; their deliverable is typically a static report. In contrast, we provide dynamic solutions and digital platforms, integrating management consulting with technology development to translate management theories into actionable systems, addressing the common pain point of failed implementation.
This approach seems to embed human resources services更深 into core business operations. How will this be implemented practically?
Operationally, we will focus on major clients, emphasizing long-term partnership. We will convert management concepts into system tools, accumulate data through platforms, and use that data to support corporate decision-making. Initially, we will leverage our existing strengths, concentrating on building human resources management systems and driving digital transformation. Key areas include enhancing human efficiency, selecting optimal用工 models, managing ecosystem employment, developing supplier systems, and creating related digital systems. Ultimately, human resources should be viewed not merely as a cost but as a vital source of value creation and an investment element.
This fundamentally represents a renewed understanding of "people." Many employees may only utilize 20% to 30% of their potential. If management mechanisms and technological empowerment can increase this to 60% or even 70%, it would result in exponential growth for enterprises.
How will the company ensure healthy cash flow while maintaining these long-term client partnerships?
We will not pursue client quantity blindly. A single client engagement might last two to three years. This model allows for a deeper understanding of client businesses, enabling the continuous optimization of highly adaptable and implementable solutions.
Simultaneously, we anticipate that the consulting business may not achieve economies of scale in the short term, potentially requiring a long-term horizon, even five to ten years. However, we believe in long-termism. Our core conviction is that human resources services will shift from providing manpower to enhancing human efficiency and from cost optimization to value creation—a major trend. In the future, this segment may comprise a team of several hundred consultants supported by a few thousand technologists, representing a proactive transformation betting on the future.