The Chinese job market is on a good run towards stability as the government revealed that 2018's figures are 100,000 up from the previous year.
Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security spokesperson, Lu Aihong said during a media briefing on Thursday that around 13.61 million jobs were delivered to the public in 2018, Xinhua reported.
The news comes after China catalyzed various strategies to produce more jobs for the people. One of the methods the government used is the build-up of programs that encourage entrepreneurship.
The government also adopted more agreeable policies for citizens who want to secure loans as well as the development of programs that promote youth innovation and 16 various training programs.
Furthermore, college graduates and migrant workers were prioritized, as well as laid-off employees who once worked in industries that had to cut back on labor due to lack of demand.
Lu said 16 million people received skills training and there were around 18,400 new business registrations that spurred employment data figures.
The government further improved China's pension-fund investment sect, as discussed at the press briefing. Before 2019 started, a total of 858 billion yuan in pension funds was allotted to 17 provincial regions. Over 70 percent of the funds under the National Council for Social Security Fund is now in place.
Meanwhile, 2019 appears to be a more difficult year in the job market. Tech companies and other industries have been cutting down on labor as the global market is expected to slow down this year.
Last week, Foxconn Technology Group has already let go of 50,000 seasonal workers since October, Nikkei Asian Review reported. Foxconn is a huge Apple supplier and the early cutback has served as a warning to other tech chains on what to expect from the 2019 market.
Foxconn reported a significant decrease in sales for the last quarter of 2018, which is believed to be the reason why a huge number of contractual employees were laid off. The company said sales plunged by over 8 percent, further igniting talk about consumers abandoning Apple's iPhone.
China's economic slowdown has been felt by various industries, specifically the technology sector. The manufacturing industry has also been struck by tensions between China and the United States.
However, the government has said that it will continue to build strategies that will ease the Chinese people in the job market. It has yet to be revealed whether the same action plan used in 2018 will be utilized this year.
