Skilled personnel form a vital backbone supporting China's manufacturing and innovation sectors. Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the nation's skilled workforce has expanded significantly, with improved structure and enhanced contributions. The total number of skilled workers has surpassed 220 million, including over 72 million highly skilled individuals, providing solid talent support for high-quality economic and social development.
As a new wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation accelerates, and as demand for higher-quality, more refined public services continues to grow, higher requirements are being placed on skilled workers. In June, the State Council issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for Implementing an Employment-First Strategy; in July, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Human Resources and Social Security, making systematic arrangements for large-scale vocational skills training. In September, the 48th WorldSkills Competition will be held in Shanghai, showcasing China's achievements in skills development. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, how will China accelerate the building of a knowledgeable, skilled, and innovative workforce, and cultivate more master craftsmen and highly skilled personnel? Journalists interviewed human resources and social security departments, relevant enterprises, technical schools, and skilled workers.
Addressing the structural contradiction of "people without skills, skills mismatched to jobs, and jobs without takers"
Building a lifelong vocational skills training system and creating a "30-minute training circle." Recently, a training session for AI trainers was held at the Digital Skills Talent Public Training Base in Changsha, Hunan. "How should the precision standards for data annotation be determined?" Trainee Li Huan sought advice from the instructor after class, who provided detailed explanations based on real corporate cases. The 14-day training program progressed from basic to advanced levels. Practical tasks ranged from speech transcription standards to intelligent copy generation, with a full schedule each day. "It fits perfectly with the learning pace of absolute beginners and has given me the confidence to transition into the digital sector," Li said.
This year, Hunan has launched large-scale "one person, one skill" vocational training, focusing on the skills needs of 12 key industrial chains and prioritizing support for migrant workers, college graduates, veterans, and persons with disabilities to fill skills gaps. 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 has trained 710,800 people this year, with AI and elderly care services among the leading fields. An official from the Hunan Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security stated that Hunan will conduct 5 million person-training sessions during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, launching actions for migrant worker assistance, graduate enhancement, course-certificate integration, and outstanding technician programs. The province will also build and utilize six mechanisms, including the closed loop of "industry-training-evaluation-employment," demand-supply matching, and skills evaluation, to address the structural contradiction of "people without skills, skills mismatched to jobs, and jobs without takers."
Raising the proportion of skilled workers in the employed population from 30% in 2025 to 35% by 2030 is one of the main targets of the 15th Five-Year Plan for Implementing an Employment-First 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 build a lifelong vocational skills training implementation system, carry out high-quality "Skills Illuminate the Future" training actions, and organize special training programs centered on industrial development, corporate recruitment needs, and worker employment demands in areas such as AI, advanced manufacturing, low-altitude economy, new energy vehicles, and elderly care services. The country will comprehensively promote industry-education-evaluation integrated, order-based, and project-based training models, cultivating more industry-education-evaluation skills ecosystem chains. A "30-minute training circle" will be created, with an electronic map of public training services published to provide workers with convenient and accessible training.
Breaking down barriers of academic qualifications and seniority in talent selection
Deepening the implementation of the "New Eight-Level" vocational skill grade system and supporting enterprise-led evaluations. In Suzhou, Jiangsu, at the production dispatch center of Shagang Group, dozens of industrial control hosts and data collection servers operate around the clock, with large screens displaying production data such as rolling output, energy consumption, and temperature. Zhou Enhui, the company's chief technician, sits at the operation console, monitoring real-time data while programming and optimizing algorithms. The digital measurement and control management system designed under Zhou's leadership has resolved issues related to billet weighing, thermal imaging temperature measurement, and statistical deviations in water, electricity, and gas energy consumption. Over the past three years, he has completed over 70 electrical digital transformation projects, creating cumulative economic value of more than 200 million yuan for the company.
Benefiting from the establishment and implementation of the "New Eight-Level" vocational skill grade system, Zhou Enhui, who started as a frontline electrician, was rated as the company's chief technician last year. Liu Jie, director of the Suzhou Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau's Vocational Skills Appraisal Center, explained that the selection of chief technicians is conducted autonomously by enterprises through performance evaluation, interviews, and comprehensive assessments. Human resources and social security departments provide full-process supervision to ensure high standards and consistency. Zhang Xiucheng, deputy director of the Organization and Personnel Department of Shagang Group, said that Shagang has independently developed evaluation criteria for electricians and metrologists based on the "New Eight-Level" system, which does not emphasize academic qualifications or seniority but focuses on on-site fault handling, digital transformation results, and mentorship outcomes, selecting practical talent capable of solving production line challenges—a better fit for the development needs of intelligent steel manufacturing.
"For workers in private enterprises, the 'New Eight-Level' system is a tangible benefit that makes 'skills changing destiny' a reality," Zhou Enhui remarked. Workers now have a dedicated career advancement path, allowing them to progress based on actual work performance and making them more willing to stay on the front lines and deepen their skills. "Recently, Suzhou has been carrying out promotional activities for highly skilled talent consumption, where those with skill certificates can enjoy exclusive discounts on home appliances and household services. Our skilled workers feel a greater sense of fulfillment."
According to the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, this year Jiangsu encourages 40 large and medium-sized enterprises to participate in pilot programs for the evaluation and appointment of special-grade technicians and chief technicians. It is expected that by the end of the third quarter, at least 70 special-grade technicians and 15 chief technicians will be rated. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Jiangsu will advance the expansion and coverage of the "New Eight-Level" reform in terms of scale, enterprise types, and evaluation conditions, launching breakthrough pilots in industries with relatively fewer skilled personnel such as modern services and the "elderly care and childcare" sectors. The scope of participating enterprises will gradually expand from state-owned and large private enterprises to 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 advanced the "New Eight-Level" vocational skill grade system, with the skilled workforce continuing to grow. A total of 4.819 million people newly obtained professional qualifications or skill level certificates, including 1.936 million at the advanced worker level and above, and 141,000 at the technician level and above. The 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 further implement the "New Eight-Level" system, strongly support enterprise-led evaluations, optimize social evaluation institutions, research and formulate regulations on skilled talent evaluation, and promote the healthy development of the skills evaluation system.
Stepping up training efforts to address talent gaps by encouraging school-enterprise collaboration and developing high-quality specialized technical education
Recently, Ma Chengbin, a student majoring in electrical automation at Shandong Wantong Technical School under Xinhua Education Group, has been busy with PLC (programmable logic controller) specialized training. "Our courses align closely with real factory production scenarios. For example, I'm simulating the construction of an industrial assembly line control system, where 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 said.
The electrical automation major that Ma is enrolled in was newly added by the school in the past two years. The school has brought in senior engineers and project supervisors from intelligent manufacturing enterprises as full-time teachers, hired provincial-level electrical skills evaluation experts and chief engineers from equipment factories to teach on campus, and simultaneously organized its own teachers to regularly undertake research and training at partner enterprises while inviting enterprises to conduct practical training on campus. Data shows that in the second quarter of this year, the job-to-applicant ratio for welders, lathe operators, and mechanical equipment installation workers in Shandong exceeded 2. With the accelerated development of intelligent manufacturing, the gap for compound skilled talent in electrical automation continues to widen. "After graduation, students can join school-enterprise cooperative intelligent manufacturing equipment companies, new energy factories, and rail transit supporting units," said practical training instructor Duan Mengyu.
Li Yongpeng, executive deputy general manager of Xinhua Education Group's Second Automotive Division, introduced that last year the group's more than 200 institutions offered over 380 order-based classes in intelligent manufacturing and electrical automation, cultivating and delivering more than 15,000 skilled professionals. According to 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 AI general education courses compulsory, with no fewer than 32 class hours. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Shandong will deepen school-enterprise cooperation, encourage the establishment of "schools in factories" and "factories in schools," and build around 20 provincial-level high-skilled talent training bases.
The 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 implement a plan to build high-quality technical colleges, constructing a number of quality technician colleges and 100 quality majors. A batch of technical education alliances (groups) will be cultivated to enhance the capacity for skilled talent cultivation.