Published on : 01/12/2023
Young people are the driving force behind the economic growth of cities. Nowadays, all places are trying their best to "grab talents". 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 are the favourite job-hoppers?
Shenzhen: The favourite city of post-95's talents
The so-called "Post-95" talents refer to job seekers born in 1995 or later. One of the large recruitment sites in Mainland China, "Zhaopin.com", summarizes the job-seeking characteristics of this age group, including favorite 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 ten. Among them, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Suzhou, Wuxi and Qingdao occupied the first four places respectively. Shenzhen surpassed 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. Among the 9 Mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area, 7 are on the 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.
As the most attractive city, what are the advantages of Shenzhen?
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 is the "code" that 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.
Active Talent Mobility in the Greater Bay Area
Which city do the post-95 talents like to job-hop to the most?
According to the data, the first five cities where talents choose to work in Shenzhen are Guangzhou, Dongguan, Changsha, Chengdu and Beijing. The first five cities where young talents in Shenzhen jumped to work in other cities were mainly in the Greater Bay Area, namely Guangzhou, Dongguan, Foshan, Shanghai and Beijing.
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, the innovative environment and cultural and entertainment industries are important elements to secure talents in the future.
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