Skilled talent serves as a vital pillar supporting China's manufacturing and innovation capabilities. Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China's skilled workforce has expanded significantly, with continuous structural improvements and a more prominent role in economic development. The country now boasts over 220 million skilled workers, including more than 72 million highly skilled professionals, providing solid talent support for high-quality economic and social development.
As a new wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation accelerates, and as demands for higher-quality and more refined services continue to grow, the requirements for skilled talent have risen considerably. In June this year, the State Council issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for Implementing the Employment Priority Strategy, followed in July by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security's release of the 15th Five-Year Plan for Human Resources and Social Security Development, both of which outline systematic arrangements for large-scale vocational skills training. In September, the 48th WorldSkills Competition will be held in Shanghai, comprehensively showcasing China's achievements in skills development. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, how will China accelerate the development of a knowledgeable, skilled, and innovative workforce, and cultivate more master craftsmen and highly skilled talent? Our correspondent interviewed human resources and social security departments, relevant enterprises, technical schools, and skilled workers to find answers.
Resolving the Contradiction of "People Without Skills, Skills Mismatching Jobs, and Positions Without Workers"
A comprehensive lifelong vocational skills training system will be established, creating a "30-minute training circle." Recently, at Changsha's Digital Skills Public Training Base in Hunan Province, an artificial intelligence trainer course was held. "How should the precision standards for data annotation be determined?" Student Li Huan eagerly sought answers from the instructor after class, who provided detailed explanations using real enterprise cases. The 14-day training program progressed from basic to advanced levels, with daily practical tasks ranging from speech transcription standards to intelligent copy generation. "The curriculum perfectly suits beginners like me and has given me the confidence to transition into the digital sector," Li Huan said.
This year, Hunan Province has launched large-scale "One Person, One Skill" vocational training initiatives, focusing on the skills demands of 12 key industrial chains and prioritizing skill development for migrant workers, college graduates, veterans, and people with disabilities. To strengthen training effectiveness, subsidy funds are directly linked to employment rates, certification rates, and salary realization rates, further reinforcing the primary responsibility of training institutions. As of July 1, Hunan had trained 710,800 people this year, with artificial intelligence and elderly care services among the most popular fields. A relevant department head from the Hunan Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security stated that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Hunan will conduct 5 million person-times of skills training, implement initiatives for migrant worker assistance, graduate improvement, course-certificate integration, and outstanding technician development, and establish six mechanisms including an "industry-training-assessment-employment" closed loop, demand-supply matching, and skills evaluation, all aimed at resolving the structural contradiction of "people without skills, skills mismatching jobs, and positions without workers."
Raising the proportion of skilled talent in the employed workforce from 30% in 2025 to 35% by 2030 is one of the key targets outlined in the 15th Five-Year Plan for Implementing the Employment Priority Strategy. An official from the Vocational Capacity Building Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security stated that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China will establish a comprehensive lifelong vocational skills training implementation system, conduct high-quality "Skills Lighting the Way" training initiatives, and organize specialized training programs focusing on industrial development, enterprise recruitment needs, and worker employment demands in fields such as artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, low-altitude economy, new energy vehicles, and elderly care services. The country will comprehensively promote industry-education-evaluation, order-based, and project-based training models, cultivate more industry-education-evaluation skills ecosystem chains, create a "30-minute training circle," publish an electronic map of training public services, and provide workers with convenient and accessible training services.
Breaking Down Barriers of Academic Credentials and Seniority in Talent Selection
The "New Eight-Grade" vocational skills grading system will be deeply implemented, with support for enterprise-led independent evaluation. At Suzhou's Shagang Group production dispatch center in Jiangsu Province, dozens of industrial control hosts and data collection servers run continuously, with large screens displaying real-time production data on rolling output, energy consumption, and temperature. Chief Technician Zhou Enhui sits at the control console, closely monitoring real-time data while programming and optimizing algorithms. The digital metering management and control system designed by Zhou Enhui has resolved issues related to steel billet weighing, thermal imaging temperature measurement, and utility consumption statistics. Over the past three years, he has completed more than 70 electrical digital transformation projects, generating over 200 million yuan in economic value for the company. Thanks to the establishment and implementation of the "New Eight-Grade" vocational skills grading system, Zhou Enhui, who started as a frontline electrician, was awarded the title of Chief Technician last year.
Liu Jie, Director of the Vocational Skills Appraisal Center at Suzhou's Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, explained that the selection of chief technicians is completed independently by enterprises through performance evaluation, interviews, and comprehensive assessments, with human resources departments providing full oversight to ensure high standards and procedural integrity. Zhang Xiucheng, Deputy Director of the Organization and Personnel Department at Shagang Group, noted that Shagang has independently developed evaluation criteria for electricians and metering personnel based on the "New Eight-Grade" system, which does not emphasize academic credentials or seniority but focuses on assessing on-site fault handling, digital transformation achievements, and apprenticeship outcomes, selecting practical talent capable of solving production line challenges—an approach better aligned with the needs of smart steel manufacturing development.
"For workers in private enterprises, the 'New Eight-Grade' vocational skills grading system is a visible, tangible benefit that makes 'skills changing destiny' a reality," Zhou Enhui reflected. Workers now have dedicated career development paths, can progress continuously based on work achievements, and are more willing to stay on the front lines and deepen their skills. "Recently, Suzhou has been conducting promotional activities for highly skilled talent consumer benefits—those with skill certification can enjoy exclusive discounts on home appliances and domestic services, giving skilled workers a greater sense of fulfillment."
According to information obtained from the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, this year Jiangsu is encouraging 40 large and medium-sized enterprises to participate in pilot programs for the evaluation and appointment of Senior Technicians and Chief Technicians, with expectations of evaluating no fewer than 70 Senior Technicians and 15 Chief Technicians by the end of the third quarter. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Jiangsu will advance the "New Eight-Grade" reform in terms of scale, enterprise types, and evaluation conditions, carrying out breakthrough pilots in industries such as modern services, eldercare, and childcare where skilled talent evaluation remains relatively limited. The province will gradually expand participating enterprises from state-owned and large private enterprises to include various small and medium-sized enterprises, while providing evaluation pathways for workers in SMEs, flexible employment, and new forms of employment.
In the first half of this year, China deeply promoted the "New Eight-Grade" vocational skills grading system, with the skilled workforce continuing to grow. A total of 4.819 million people newly obtained vocational qualifications or skill certification, including 1.936 million at the advanced worker level or above and 141,000 at the technician level or above. The official from the Vocational Capacity Building Department stated that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China will deepen implementation of the "New Eight-Grade" system, strongly support enterprise-led independent evaluation, optimize social evaluation institutions, and research and formulate regulations on skilled talent evaluation to promote the healthy development of the evaluation system.
Increasing Training Efforts to Address Talent Gaps
School-enterprise cooperation will be encouraged to develop high-quality, distinctive technical education. Ma Chengbin, a student majoring in electrical automation at Shandong Wantong Technical School under the Xinhua Education Group, is currently busy with PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) specialized training. "Our curriculum closely mirrors real factory production scenarios. For example, when simulating the construction of an industrial assembly line control system, I need to independently complete electrical control cabinet wiring and sensor debugging, and finally achieve automatic start-stop of the entire equipment, multi-station linkage, and fault audible and visual alarms," Ma Chengbin said.
The electrical automation major that Ma Chengbin studies is one that the school newly established in the past two years. The school has brought in senior engineers and project managers from smart manufacturing enterprises as full-time teachers, invited provincial-level electrical skills assessment experts and chief engineers from equipment manufacturers to teach on campus, and organized regular teacher training programs at partner enterprises while inviting companies to conduct practical training on campus. Data shows that in the second quarter of this year, the job-to-applicant ratio for occupations such as welders, lathe operators, and mechanical equipment installers in Shandong exceeded 2. As smart manufacturing accelerates, the gap for electrical automation composite skilled talent continues to widen.
"After graduation, students can join school-enterprise cooperative smart manufacturing equipment companies, new energy factories, and rail transit supporting units," said Duan Mengyu, a practical training instructor. Li Yongpeng, Deputy General Manager of the Automotive Second Division at Xinhua Education Group, introduced that last year, the group's more than 200 institutions offered over 380 order-based classes in smart manufacturing and electrical automation, sending more than 15,000 skilled workers to targeted positions.
According to information from the Shandong Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, starting from the fall semester of 2025, all technical colleges in the province have made artificial intelligence general courses mandatory, with no fewer than 32 class hours. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Shandong will deepen school-enterprise cooperation, encourage the establishment of "factories in schools" and "schools in factories," and build around 20 provincial-level high-skilled talent training bases.
The official from the Vocational Capacity Building Department stated that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China will implement a quality technical college construction plan, build a number of quality technician colleges and 100 quality majors, and cultivate a group of technical education alliances and groups to enhance skilled talent cultivation capabilities.