Survey report shows nearly 60% of applicants consider AI-related jobs – Global Times

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Nearly 60 percent of applicants are considering artificial intelligence (AI)-related jobs during the spring job-hopping season this year, as the rapid development of new technologies and proactive policy support have made job hoppers increasingly interested in emerging fields such as AI, a latest survey shows. 

According to the report on 2025 spring job hopping season released on Monday by Zhilian Zhaopin, a Chinese job-search platform, among employees in emerging industries who are considering or conducting job-hunting, 49.2 percent anticipate to enter the AI industry, making it the top choice, Jiemian News reported on Monday. 

The AI industry is followed by the new energy industry with a proportion of 41.7 percent of interviewees prioritizing the industry in their job-hunting. Besides, high-end manufacturing, residents’ service and cross-border e-commerce industries also rank among the top five hot choices among the emerging industries. 

In terms of careers, 57.2 percent applicants express a strong desire to pursue AI-related jobs, such as AI engineers. Among them, 24.3 percent believe such “new careers offer better development prospects,” 21.5 percent are attracted by “higher salaries,” and 11.4 percent think AI-related jobs provide “a greater sense of achievement through self-challenging.”

According to the report, although the traditional internet sector has reached its peak and with its growth slowing down in recent years, emerging industries such as AI and quantum technology that represent the direction of the next technological revolution and industrial transformation, have become increasingly attractive to job seekers. 

When it comes to preferred industries, data shows that 32.5 percent of the job hoppers hope to enter the IT, telecommunications, electronics and internet sectors, making these industries the most popular choices. 

In addition, with the popularity of new energy vehicles, 27.8 percent of job seekers hope to enter the automotive, production, processing, manufacturing industries, which rank the second. 

Besides, the trade, wholesale, retail and consumer goods sector and the energy, mining, and environmental protection industry are also favored by many job hoppers, accounting for 22.5 percent and 21.9 percent, respectively.

The survey also shows that “dissatisfaction with salary and benefits” constitute the primary reason for employees expecting to seek other jobs during the spring recruitment season, accounting for 48.1 percent, up from last year’s 47.4 percent. 

According to the report, AI technology is developing rapidly in 2025, with the explosive growth of DeepSeek propelling China’s AI industry to new heights and accelerating AI’s integration across various sectors. This has heavily boosted the demand for AI-related emerging professions. 

In order to secure top talent, companies are raising salaries. Statistics from Zhilian Zhaopin show that in February recruitment of positions for algorithm engineers, machine learning and deep learning saw year-on-year growth of 46.8 percent, 40.1 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively, with the average monthly salary for these positions exceeding 20,000 yuan ($2,757), reaching 23,510 yuan, 21,534 yuan and 24,015 yuan, respectively. Meanwhile, job applications surged by over 200 percent compared with the previous year, Yicai reported on Monday. 

In the respect of embodied intelligence sector, statistics from Zhilian Zhaopin show that in February of 2025, recruitment for robotics algorithm engineers, robotics debugging engineers and industrial robotics engineers increased by 41.4 percent, 57.5 percent and 6 percent year-on-year, respectively. The average monthly salaries for these positions amounted to 25,786 yuan, 9,115 yuan, and 12,653 yuan respectively.

With promising career prospects and competitive salaries, the embodied intelligence sector has attracted a large influx of talent. The number of job seekers for these three positions grew by 204.7 percent, 245 percent, and 168.3 percent, respectively, showing a simultaneous surge in both supply and demand.

Apart from “dissatisfaction with salary and benefits” as the top reason for job hoppers seeking other jobs, another two major reasons are “uncertain company prospects and business contraction” and “being exploited or manipulated by boss and workplace bullying,” which constituted 35.3 percent and 27.7 percent respectively, according to Jiemian News. 

The proportion of job seekers choosing “uncertain company prospects” as the reason for their intention of job hopping has significantly increased this year, reflecting a growing expectation from employees toward companies to clarify their development direction in a changing era, according to the report. 

Besides, the choice of “being exploited or manipulated and workplace bullying” ranks the third, reflecting that employees attach greater importance to their working experience, which serves as a reminder for companies to foster a workplace environment with equality and respect, as a positive corporate culture and work atmosphere serves as key to attracting and retaining talent. 

Global Times