China has seen a lagging in the number of applicants despite the growth in job opportunities registered in the country's central and western regions, China Daily reported.
According to the article, the growth, which was also seen in third-tier cities, can be mainly attributed to the sharing economy and e-commerce.
In a recent second quarter employment report released by the China Institute for Employment Research and the Chinese job recruitment portal, Zhaopin, eastern China has generated 73 percent more jobs.
Moreover, job creation and employment situation have also improved in China's less-developed middle and western regions. Such cities in Central China grew the fastest, posting a 23 percent growth rate, while the country's western part pulled off 23 percent.
The report also showed that despite having relatively low statistic, third-tier cities and other less-developed regions had a 27 percent increase year on year in new job openings.
China Institute for Employment Research director Zeng Xiangquan noted that generally, the country saw an improvement in the employment situation from the first to the second quarter.
The China Daily article stated that the index or "the proportion of job vacancies for each job seeker" rose from 1.71 to 1.93." In the second half of the year, there could still be a drop in the index.
The competition in job market could become fiercer. However, the overall picture is stabilizing," Zeng further enthused
For Zhaoping CEO Guo Sheng, the biggest issue in China's employment situation is the mismatch between job seekers and employers, citing that the "reasons behind this mismatch are complicated."
"We see job opportunities cluster in regions that are not provinces with large populations. Labor mobility is not enough to meet this demand. Besides, many job seekers continue to look for opportunities in traditional industries that are cutting positions," Guo shared. For instance, in the mining industry, around a hundred job seekers applied for 24 jobs while about 11 job vacancies had only one applicant in the Internet industry.
Nonetheless, Guo is hopeful that the e-commerce and the sharing economy will aid in this structural imbalance.
Data from car-hailing platform Didi Dache claims that the firm has created 3.89 million job opportunities across China's 17 provinces that are currently cutting jobs due to industrial overcapacity.
The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security estimated that around 1.8 million employees in the coal and iron industry will be laid off as China reduces industrial capacity overload.