China's artificial intelligence (AI) industry is rapidly growing, with related corporations intensifying their efforts to secure talent. They are not only offering high salaries but also lowering recruitment thresholds for non-majors. Nevertheless, projections indicate that by around 2030, there will be a shortage of up to 4 million talents compared to demand, suggesting that competition for hiring will become increasingly fierce.
On the 17th, Chinese economic media Caixin, citing the online recruitment platform Zhaopin, noted that in the job market during the first week after this year's Spring Festival (February 5-8), the growth rate of algorithm engineer job listings exceeded 20% year-on-year, ranking first among all job categories. Algorithm engineers design and optimize various AI-related algorithms involving data processing, machine learning, and encryption. Zhaopin Vice President Baran said, "The emergence of remarkable AI products like 'DeepSeek' has added strong momentum to the flow of AI technology and has accelerated the growth of talent demand."
In fact, well-known AI corporations in China are competing to secure high-level talent. On that day, the DeepSeek recruitment website showed that DeepSeek is 'urgently hiring' deep learning researchers, core system engineers, and full-stack developers. The job posting for deep learning researchers requires proficiency in machine learning and programming languages, as well as experience publishing related papers in international academic conferences or journals. Unitree, a leading humanoid robot company in China, is also hiring algorithm engineers for AI large language models and robot control algorithms.
These job categories are also associated with high salary levels. Zhaopin analyzed that AI-related engineers are receiving an average monthly salary of 21,319 yuan (approximately 4 million won). When annualized, this amounts to 260,000 yuan (approximately 50 million won). Compared to the average annual salary of workers in Chinese private enterprises (68,340 yuan, as of 2023), it is nearly four times higher. Currently, over 30.1% of algorithm engineer positions available in the market offer salaries of over 500,000 yuan (approximately 100 million won). Even Unitree has set salary ranges for currently hiring positions between 240,000 and 720,000 yuan (approximately 50 million to 140 million won).
Caixin stated, "Strong demand and high salaries reflect the current shortage of talent in the AI industry." According to a McKinsey report, the demand for AI experts in China is expected to reach 6 million by 2030. However, the supply is projected to remain well below that at around 2 million.
Given the circumstances, there are movements to gradually relax recruitment thresholds. The AI industry is one of the representative professions with high entry barriers, and currently, 84.24% of available jobs require at least a bachelor's degree, which is higher than the industry average of 64.98%. However, Caixin noted, "There are companies that do not require a relevant major to widen the candidate pool and attract more potential talent," adding, "Applicants who majored in statistics, mathematics, business administration, and have a solid mathematical foundation and programming language proficiency are also considered by companies."