Zhang Libin
Core viewpoint: To implement the strategy of expanding domestic demand and build a complete domestic demand system, we must adhere to the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability with progress, and establishing first and then breaking down, an important part of which is to stabilize employment.
■Zhang Libin
Stable employment is an important prerequisite for expanding domestic demand. The Central Economic Work Conference held in December 2023 emphasized "giving more prominence to the priority orientation of employment", and this year's "Government Work Report" proposed to "take multiple measures to stabilize employment and promote income growth". It can be seen that the central government has raised employment stabilization to a strategic level, and the importance of stabilizing employment has been further enhanced.
01-Stable employment is the basis for expanding domestic demand-
At the end of 2022, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Outline of the Strategic Plan for Expanding Domestic Demand (2022-2035)", putting forward the goal and key tasks of "accelerating the cultivation of a complete domestic demand system", requiring the expansion of the domestic demand system in accordance with the whole chain of production, distribution, circulation, consumption and investment reproduction, and cultivating a complete domestic demand system composed of improving the quality of supply, optimizing the distribution pattern, improving the circulation system, comprehensively promoting consumption, and expanding investment space.
In the whole chain of the domestic demand system, the issue of employment is carried out throughout. First of all, labor is the most important factor of production, and it is necessary to have sufficient and high-quality labor force and effective combination of means of production in order to provide high-quality products and services. Distribution is the key to achieving high-quality employment, and laborers must obtain adequate remuneration for their labor in order to complete the expanded reproduction of labor force with high quality and become the main consumer of means of subsistence; the owners of factors of production such as capital, management, and technology must obtain reasonable factor income in order to become the main input of factors for expanding reproduction and realize investment reproduction. It can be seen that the development of a sufficient number of high-quality labor force that is compatible with high-quality development, promoting the matching of supply and demand of labor factors, achieving employment, ensuring that workers receive sufficient labor remuneration, and the owners of production factors obtain reasonable factor returns are the basis and key to expanding effective demand and forming the scale effect of expanding domestic demand.
At present, the external environment facing the development of the mainland is becoming more complex, severe, and uncertain, and there are many problems in economic operation, such as insufficient effective demand. In the field of employment, it is manifested in the coexistence of total employment pressure and structural contradictions.
To implement the strategy of expanding domestic demand and build a complete domestic demand system, we must persist in seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability through progress, and establishing first and then breaking down, an important part of which is to stabilize employment. Stabilizing the employment opportunities of nearly 770 million laborers and 730 million employed people will stabilize the basic livelihood of nearly 500 million families and more than 1.4 billion people, stabilize the vitality of more than 170 million market entities, and stabilize the foundation for the growth of domestic demand, which is conducive to the formation of a scale effect of expanding domestic demand.
02-Stabilizing Employment from a Strategic Height--Forming a Scale Effect to Expand Domestic Demand-
Taking into account the domestic and international situation and various factors, and considering the needs of promoting employment and increasing income, preventing and defusing risks, this year's "Government Work Report" has set the main development targets of GDP growth of about 5 percent, more than 12 million new urban jobs, and a surveyed urban unemployment rate of about 5.5 percent. In accordance with the requirements of the "Government Work Report," all localities and departments should come up with more policies that are conducive to stabilizing expectations, growth, and employment, and implement comprehensive policies to maintain the stability of total employment, improve the quality of employment, and lay the foundation for the formation of a scale effect for expanding domestic demand.
First, we need to stabilize employment by stabilizing growth.
Give full play to the fundamental role of consumption. In the future, the mainland will continue to improve the quality of traditional consumption such as food, clothing, housing and transportation, actively develop service consumption such as cultural tourism, elderly care and child care, medical and health, education, sports, housekeeping, and community public services, accelerate the cultivation of new consumption models and new business formats, vigorously advocate green and low-carbon consumption, and further release consumption potential. People always have to consume, and satisfying the diversified consumption needs of the broad masses of the people will be able to stabilize a large number of employment opportunities, and by constantly creating and providing new consumer goods and services, we will also be able to create new employment opportunities.
Play a key role in investing. The mainland is in the stage of rapid development of new industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization, and its investment demand potential is huge. In the future, the mainland will increase investment support for the manufacturing industry, accelerate the construction of transportation, water conservancy, energy and other infrastructure and ecological and environmental protection facilities, improve the logistics infrastructure network, improve the social and livelihood infrastructure such as medical care, education, and pension, systematically lay out new infrastructure, and forward-looking layout of innovative infrastructure, etc., These investment projects themselves will drive the development of upstream and downstream industrial chains, stabilize and expand employment in the whole industry chain, and enhance the people's sense of happiness, security and gain.
In promoting new urbanization and coordinated development of urban and rural areas, new employment growth points will be explored. New-type urbanization and coordinated development of urban and rural areas are important driving forces for the mainland's economic development. Promoting a new type of urbanization with people at the core and promoting equal access to basic public services for rural migrants will unleash huge consumption potential and stabilize and expand the transfer of rural labor to employment. Improving the urban system of super-large and mega-cities, large and medium-sized cities, small and medium-sized cities, and county seats, giving full play to the radiation and driving capacity of central cities, and promoting the economic development of counties with county towns as the center will help promote the flow of labor to areas with high labor productivity and increase employment income. The implementation of rural construction actions, the improvement of the rural market system, the enrichment of rural economic forms, the improvement of the urban-rural integration development system and mechanism, and the active promotion of rural modernization are conducive to promoting the employment and income of the rural population.
Second, we need to stabilize employment by stabilizing market entities.
Promote the development of the private economy and stabilize employment. It is necessary to unswervingly encourage, support and guide the development of the non-public economy, provide stable policy expectations, continuously improve the business environment, effectively solve the various difficulties faced by the development of private enterprises, implement and improve policies such as the return of stable posts, special loans, and social security subsidies, and enhance the ability of enterprises to stabilize their posts. Carry out key monitoring of industries and enterprises with large employment capacity, one enterprise and one policy, increase support, and ensure the stability of enterprise employment and employment.
Support entrepreneurship to drive employment. It is necessary to further optimize the entrepreneurial environment, comprehensively upgrade entrepreneurial services, and provide entrepreneurs with a package of support such as project recommendation, venue support, and financial services. We will continue to increase support for entrepreneurship policies such as guaranteed loans for entrepreneurship and one-time subsidies for entrepreneurship, encourage and guide professional and technical personnel, returnees and other groups to devote themselves to entrepreneurship, and better release the "multiplier effect" of entrepreneurship driving employment.
The development of the new economy will lead to new jobs. It is necessary to continue to encourage the innovative development of new technologies, new industries, new forms of business, and new models, and promote the development of new occupations and new forms of employment. standardize the development of new forms of employment, and better protect the rights and interests of employees.
Third, we should stabilize employment by improving the quality of workers.
Strengthen vocational skills training. We will intensify efforts to promote the "Skills China" initiative, carry out large-scale special training for enterprise employees and key groups, and improve and implement policies such as vocational skills improvement subsidies and work-for-training as needed, so as to help enterprises stabilize jobs and stabilize the employment of key groups. Establish and improve the lifelong vocational skills training system as soon as possible, strengthen new vocational skills training, so that workers can easily obtain vocational skills training according to market needs, and enhance their lifelong ability to cope with occupational changes.
Improve the adaptability of educational personnel training and economic development. Improve the vocational education system, promote the development of high-quality characteristics of vocational education, and cultivate a knowledge-based, skilled, and innovative workforce that is compatible with the modern industrial system. According to the needs of industrial development, optimize the structure of higher education disciplines and talent training methods, strengthen the integration of industry and education, school-enterprise cooperation, increase the cultivation of urgently needed talents, improve students' digital ability and employability, and cultivate talents that are really needed in the labor market.
Fourth, stabilize employment by promoting the matching of labor supply and demand.
We will improve the national unified and standardized human resources market, cultivate a market environment for the orderly flow of labor elements, and ensure that urban and rural workers can move freely according to market supply and demand and enjoy equal employment rights. Improve the unified national public service platform for human resources and social security, and allocate public resources according to the size of the population actually served and managed. Establish a coordinated policy system and exchange and cooperation mechanism for the flow of labor and talents, and stabilize employment through the rational allocation of labor.
Improve the public service system for employment, and make every effort to consolidate employment services at the grassroots level. Sink the employment public service to the grassroots level, strengthen the professional service team of the grassroots community, and improve the ability to facilitate the people's services, especially to integrate employment management services into the scope of party building to lead grassroots governance.
Continuously improve the level of market-oriented human resources services. Give full play to the function of market-oriented human resource service institutions to serve workers and employers, effectively resolve the problems of difficulty in recruiting workers and workers in employment, and promote the coordinated development of the modern industrial system and human resources.
Fifth, we need to stabilize employment by improving the employment security system.
Improve the income distribution system. To stabilize and expand employment, the emphasis is on ensuring the labor income of workers. Adhere to the basic synchronization of the growth of residents' income with economic growth, and the basic synchronization of the increase in labor remuneration and the improvement of labor productivity. We will improve the mechanism for adjusting the minimum wage standard, the mechanism for determining the wages of workers, reasonably increasing and guaranteeing payment, ensure the basic income level of workers, increase the labor remuneration of workers, especially front-line workers, and gradually narrow the gap between urban and rural development and residents' living standards.
Raise the level of social security. Increase investment in the field of social and people's livelihood in an orderly manner, promote the equalization of basic public services such as education, pension, medical care, and housing security, and reasonably reduce the living burden of workers. Improve the social security system, improve the ability of workers to cope with various risks, and enhance the stability of employment.
Guarantee the employment of key groups. It is necessary to adhere to the equal emphasis on market orientation and government promotion, vigorously expand knowledge-based, management-based, and skill-based employment opportunities in the digital economy and other fields, make every effort to stabilize the supply of public sector jobs, strengthen policies to encourage business entities to absorb employment, provide multi-level and diversified training and apprenticeship opportunities, provide accurate and effective employment services, and guide the majority of young people to actively find employment. Efforts should be made to promote the urbanization of migrant workers and promote the stable employment of migrant workers in cities and towns. Strengthen policy support and services for migrant workers who have returned to their hometowns to start businesses and rural laborers who are employed in the local area.
Ensuring the employment of groups in need. Improve the employment policy system for groups in need, such as public welfare posts, subsidies for job hunting and entrepreneurship, social insurance subsidies, and job subsidies, and continuously improve the employment assistance system to ensure that at least one person from zero-employment families is employed. Implement a gradual postponement of the statutory retirement age, improve the human resources market and policy service system for the elderly as soon as possible, and support the re-employment of the elderly who are willing to work.
Improve the institutional mechanism for employment work and the employment policy support system. It is necessary to build a mechanism for promoting the integration of employment, incorporate the effectiveness of employment work into the high-quality development evaluation system, promote the linkage of various economic and social policies and employment policies, and form a joint force to stabilize employment. Adjust and optimize employment stabilization policies, and form a systematic and full-chain policy support system for stabilizing jobs and expanding employment. We will make every effort to strengthen employment monitoring and early warning to ensure the overall stability of the employment situation.
In short, by stabilizing employment from a strategic height and enabling residents to have stable incomes and expectations, we will be able to give full play to the advantages of a huge population and the ever-expanding size of the middle-income group and fully unleash the potential for consumption; we will be able to make good use of the advantages of a huge and increasing number of high-quality labor forces, enhance the vitality of innovation, improve the quality of supply, better meet the needs of diversified and individualized consumption, and form a scale effect of expanding domestic demand.
(The author is a second-level researcher at the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security)
Chief Producer丨Wang Hui Che Haigang
Producer丨Li Piguang, Wang Yu, Liu Weimin
Editor-in-Chief丨Mao Jinghui Editor丨Zou Duo