China’s EV and chip giants need workers — not necessarily college grads

BEIJING
—
China’s
vocational
school
push
is
producing
workers
the
country’s
electric
car
and
semiconductor
industries
want
to
hire.

Despite

tech
company
layoffs
and

record-high
youth
unemployment
in
recent
years,
public
filings
analyzed
by
CNBC
show
marked
headcount
growth
at
key
industry
giants
–
who
largely
depend
on
technical,
advanced
manufacturing
labor.

Electric
battery
heavyweight


CATL‘s
staff
more
than
tripled
within
three
years
to
118,914
in
2022
–
with

nearly
80%
holding
less
than
a
bachelor’s
degree.

Chinese
semiconductor
company


SMIC‘s
research
and
development
team
grew
by
nearly
30%
since
2021
to
2,283
as
of
June.
While
doctorate
and
master’s
degree
holders
contributed
the
most
to
the
increase,
the
number
of
staff
with
a
junior
college
or
lower
background
rose
by
10%
—
in
contrast
to
an
8%
drop
for
those
with
bachelor’s
degrees.

China’s
efforts
to
build
up
its
own
technological
capabilities
have
intensified
since
the
U.S.
started
to
restrict
Chinese
companies’
access
to
critical
tech
such
as
advanced
semiconductors.

The
Chinese
government
has
also
long
tried
to
develop
its
vocational
education
system
and
learn
from

similar
programs
in
countries
such
as
Germany.

Beijing
made
two
important
changes
in
2019
to
spur
vocational
education
–
a
nationally
recognized
skills
certification
framework
and
a
call
for
300
business
entities
to
provide
or
sponsor
training,
pointed
out
Anyi
Wang,
associate
research
scholar
at
Columbia
University
and
co-author
of
a
2020

paper
on
vocational
education
in
China.

“Right
now,
I
think
the
government
is
trying
to
put
vocational
education
in
a
more
important
place
in
the
whole
education
system,”
he
said,
noting
other
policy
changes
that
indicate
Beijing’s
recognition
that
high-tech
workers
need
longer
training
times.

More
complex
machines
and
software
systems
also
mean
factory
workers
aren’t
just
filling
labor-intensive
roles
anymore,
but
may
be
overseeing

automated
production.

While
the
industry
changes,
slower
economic
growth
and
crackdowns
on
real
estate
and
internet
platform
companies
have
revealed
a

stark
mismatch
between
graduates’
skills
and
available
jobs.

The
unemployment
rate
for
young
people
ages
16
to
24
climbed
to
records
above
20%
this
summer
before
authorities

suspended
the
data
release.

“The
supply
of
[what
we
call]
workers
with
generalized
skills
to
the
market
is
more
than
the
economy
can
actually
[absorb],
so
you
can
find
a
lot
of
the
graduates,
they
graduate
directly
into
unemployment,”
Wang
said.

The
number
of
bachelor’s
degree
graduates
rose
by
10%
in
2022
to
4.7
million,
while
higher-level
vocational
schools
saw
a

24%
surge
in
graduates
to
4.9
million,
according
to
the
Ministry
of
Education.

There’s
no
official
jobless
rate
breakdown
by
educational
background.

But
what’s
clear
is
vocational
positions
require
specific
skills,
Wang
said.
“So
they
are
having
a
shortage
of
workers
or
applicants.”

The
latest
available
official
tally
of
nationwide
labor
shortages
for
2022
found
that
sales
people
were
in
greatest
demand,
followed
by

automobile
manufacturing
workers
in
second
place,
up
from
19th
place
previously.

Semiconductor-related
manufacturing
jobs
also
made
the
top
100
positions
with
the
greatest
need
for
workers,
the
report
said.

The
number
of
students
focusing
on
the
auto
sector
has
increased
significantly
over
the
last
several
years
to
about
two-thirds
of
the
current
enrollment
at
Nanjing
Vocational
University
of
Industry
Technology’s
transportation
school,
its
dean
Wang
Wenkai
said
in
a
phone
interview.

“The
market
has
increased
demand
for
this,”
he
said
in
Mandarin,
translated
by
CNBC.

In
a
well-managed
vocational
education
program,
a
significant
benefit
for
students
comes
from
corporate
partners
who
provide
hands-on
experience,
if
not
a
job
after
graduation.

Schools
CNBC
spoke
with
had
existing
programs
with
companies
such
as
CATL,
Baidu’s
autonomous
driving
unit
and
Chinese
electric
car
giant


BYD.

Public
announcements
in
the
last
year
also
show
at
least
10
different
vocational
education
schools
are
in
talks
for
or
have
launched
training
institutes
with
BYD.

Among
them,
a
“BYD
Field
Engineer
College”
was
launched
on
Sept.
10
in
collaboration
with
vocational
schools
in
Henan
province,
whose

capital
city
of
Zhengzhou
is
home
to
a

new
BYD
factory.

Based
on
its
2023
strategic
plan,
BYD
will
need
a
large
number
of
field
engineers
in
manufacturing
and
after-sales
service,
Liu
Junpeng,
director
of
school-enterprise
cooperation
at
BYD’s
human
resources
department,
said
at
the
college’s
launch
event,

according
to
a
release
by
Henan
Mechanical
and
Electrical
Vocational
College.

BYD
did
not
immediately
respond
to
a
CNBC
request
for
comment.

The
company
does
not
disclose
its
workers’
educational
background.
But
public
filings
reveal
its
workforce
more
than
tripled
over
the
last
six
years
to
631,500
as
of
June.

Corporate
partnerships
also
help
schools
make
sure
their
curriculum
is
current.

Every
summer,
teachers
at
Shaanxi
Polytechnic
Institute
go
to
work
at
BYD
in
the
city
of
Xi’an,
according
to
Xu
Jiyang,
dean
of
the
institute’s
automotive
school.

At
Shenzhen
Polytechnic
University,
BYD
engineers
help
construct
the
courses,
parts
of
which
also
take
students
to
learn
on-site
at
the
company,
said
Zhu
Xiaochun,
deputy
dean
of
the
school
of
automobiles
and
transportation.

He
claimed
junior
college
students
had
an
employment
rate
of
well
over
90%.
“In
addition
to
our
better
students
in
the
bachelor
program,
[BYD]
also
needs
a
large
number
of
workers,”
Zhu
said
in
Mandarin,
via
a
CNBC
translation.
“It’s
too
easy
for
our
students
to
find
jobs.”

However,
one
of
the
biggest
challenges
for
vocational
education
remains
public
perception.

“We
live
in
an
era
of
high
aspiration.
Parents
want
that
for
their
children,”
said
Stephen
Billett,
professor
of
adult
and
vocational
education
at
the
School
of
Education
and
Professional
Studies
at
Griffith
University
in
Australia.

“But
often
vocational
education
is
being
seen
as
something
as
far
less
desirable
than
those
developed
through
higher
education,”
he
said.
“That
then
leads
to
this
issue
of
how
that
can
be
changed
and
also
how
we
can
have
effective
vocational
education
systems.”