Published : 2023-12-01
As young people are the driving force behind the economic growth of cities, a major Mainland job board has released "China Post-95 Talent Attractiveness Ranking: 2023", a study on the job-seeking intentions of job-seekers born in 1995 or later (known as the "post-95").
The study explores the flow of talent between cities and the job-seeking characteristics of the new generation.
Which places are most attractive to the post-95s? Who likes to change jobs the most?
Shenzhen: The favourite city of post-95's talents
The so-called "Post-95" talents refer to job seekers born in 1995 or later, who are usually known as Generation Z in western world.
One of the major recruitment websites in Mainland China, "Zhaopin.com" (智聯招聘), summarises the job-seeking characteristics of this age group, including favourite cities to work in, industries, and expectations for work, based on job application letters sent through the site in the past year.
In early November 2023, it published the "China City Post-95 Talent Attraction Ranking: 2023".
A total of 50 cities are on the list, with Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Suzhou, Wuxi and Qingdao making up the top 10.
Among them, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen occupied the top 4 places respectively, with Shenzhen surpassing Beijing as the most attractive city for the new generation.
It is worth noting that the cities of the Greater Bay Area occupy five seats in the top 20.
Apart from Shenzhen and Guangzhou, which ranked 1st and 4th, Foshan ranked 12th, Dongguan ranked 15th and Zhuhai ranked 16th. Zhongshan and Huizhou also ranked among the top 35.
It means that among the 9 Mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area, 7 are on the Top 35 list, reflecting the attractiveness of the region to young talents.
According to the research data, the post-95 talents are attracted to the eastern coastal region, including the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta.
The net inflow of post-95 talents is 18%, which is higher than the national total of 14%. Young people love to go to the eastern cities to work and seek opportunities.
What are the advantages of Shenzhen as the most attractive city?
The ranking report illustrates that Shenzhen has a lower threshold for settlement than Beijing and Shanghai and an innovative industrial structure. It is able to provide more jobs and attract more young people to work in Shenzhen.
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What attracts post-95 talent?
"Innovation" is also a key point that attracts young people. Statistics show that cities with the top patent authorizations per 10,000 people are Shenzhen, Suzhou, Zhuhai, Wuxi, Changzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Foshan, Nanjing, and Zhongshan.
Among them, Guangdong province accounts for 5 cities, all of which belong to the Greater Bay Area. Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, and Nanjing are in Jiangsu Province, and Hangzhou is in Zhejiang Province, reflecting the innovative vitality of these three provinces.
Young people like Work-Life-Balance. The rankings show that the variety and richness of urban entertainment are also elements that attract young people to work in a city.
Half of the top ten cities in terms of the number of cinemas per million people are located in the eastern region. The first three are Lhasa, Sanya, and Zhuhai, a city in the Greater Bay Area.
High mobility of talent within Greater Bay Area
Where do the post 95 like the most as their target city?
According to the data, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Changsha, Chengdu and Beijing are the top 5 cities in terms of the number of people who chose to work in Shenzhen.
For young Shenzhen talents jump to work in other cities, the top five cities they chose were Guangzhou, Dongguan, Foshan, Shanghai and Beijing, most of which are in the Greater Bay Area.
The same situation is found in Guangzhou. The largest inflow of talents to Guangzhou comes from Shenzhen, Foshan and Dongguan, and the outflow is also from these three cities.
This shows that there is an active flow of talents in the Greater Bay Area. The geographical proximity and cultural proximity of the cities in the region have facilitated the movement of talents, resulting in "internal mobility" of talents.
Overall, the post-95 generation prefers to work in the eastern coastal region, mainly in the first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Among them, the ratio of male to female is 50/50. In addition to work, the post-95 generation also pursues work-life-balance.
Apart from salary, an innovative environment and cultural and entertainment industries are important elements in retaining talents in the future.
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