Chen Cong, a part-time "pet sitter", walks a golden retriever for a customer in Chengdu, Sichuan province, in March 2022. [PHOTO/CHINA NEWS SERVICE]

With the rapid development of digital technologies and the broadening of labor categories, China has seen the emergence of a large number of fresh professions in recent years.

Various new occupations have enriched employment options. A national classification of occupations released in 2022 showed that there were 1,639 identified occupations in China, 158 more than in 2015, and 6 percent of which were related to digital technology.

Chinese youth are ambitiously tapping into these emerging professions, ranging from AI architect and machine learning engineer to homestay housekeeper and pet nurse, especially given the intense competition in the Chinese domestic job market.

Digital tech creates new jobs

With cursor flashing and lines of code typed in, skyscrapers and picturesque landscapes seen in reality are represented on the screen of a virtual architect surnamed Wang.

Virtual architect, a profession using AI algorithms to build a world in virtual space, is a new occupation often linked to the games industry. It is dedicated to providing immersive experiences for gamers, movie-goers and virtual reality users.

Wang, who majored in gaming and entertainment art as an undergraduate, is a newcomer in this field, but is very confident about the prospects of his job. "This technology has vast potentials, and I can use it to represent the whole world."

Virtual architects can also construct various scenarios online in catering to customer demands, such as 3D meeting rooms, online press conferences, online exhibitions and virtual museums.

Wang said he hopes more people will join him in transforming the imagination of the virtual world into productive forces in reality.

Like virtual architect, other new occupations exploiting digital technologies are gaining increasing popularity, especially among young job hunters, due to the flexibility and promising prospects.

Data revealed that occupations in the field of emerging high-tech had attracted increasing numbers of graduates in 2023, with intelligent manufacturing, AI-generated content and AI large model options being dominant in this regard.

"The digital industry fits well with young people's interests and personal pursuits, thus offering more vacancies that match their employment expectations," said Chen Yun, director of the employment and entrepreneurial research office of the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security.

New services meeting personalized needs

In recent years, a myriad of service occupations aiming to satisfy people's personalized demands have emerged, including services such as decluttering, door-to-door cooking and dog-walking.

Ma Xiaoyi (pseudonym) is a declutterer who leads her team in tidying the homes of customers.

In preparation, Ma will learn about the specific demands of the customer, including their lifestyles and habits, and then compile a tailored decluttering plan.

Such a plan is implemented through procedures of clearing, sorting, selection, decluttering and display, while Ma's team will do so by using the likes of storage boxes and divider boxes to make the homes tidy and more comfortable to live in.

Ma believes her chosen career is highly promising. She has also pushed the boundaries of her profession by providing related books, parent-child decluttering classes and video courses.

"Facing a new job, we should try and get to work boldly, instead of waiting and seeing what happens," she said. "You will not know whether it suits you until you try, and you will succeed only with persistent efforts."

"The new professions that have emerged and those still in incubation are a blue ocean in the job market, which have great potential and plenty of promise," said Li Qiang, executive vice-president of Zhaopin, an online recruitment platform in China.

"We would like to encourage young people to embrace the new occupations and seize new opportunities with a positive attitude," Li said.

New opportunities, new challenges

New occupations able to meet people's diversified demands are especially needed in the fields of elderly and child care.

For instance, with the law on family education promotion taking effect, the new occupation of family education tutor has been added to the national classification of professions. Observers predict that this new form of work will create more than 1 million jobs once the industrial standard is set.

In addition, observers also reminded young people that such new jobs come with higher demands for interdisciplinary savvy and skills.

Fast-evolving new technologies are pushing Chinese youth to enhance their professional capabilities, thereby ensuring that they are qualified to effectively participate in the new job market.

A report jointly released by the National School of Development of Peking University and the Zhaopin platform in July 2023 revealed that China's labor market had not fully adapted to AI technology, while some white-collar occupations, such as marketing, finance and secretarial work, had borne the brunt of this.

"Stable employment does not mean working the same job for life, but instead means being able to keep pace with the times and continuously take opportunities," said Chen.

Editor: Zhong Xinyi