AI layoffs hit U.S. but not China jobs — yet

Hello, I’m Evelyn, writing to you from Beijing. Welcome to the latest edition of The China Connection, a concise summary of what I’m seeing and hearing from local businesses.

Today I’m diving into the AI ​​job market on both sides of the Pacific. Is China better off as Silicon Valley prepares for overnight layoffs?

Like Seer Despite becoming the latest US tech giant to undergo mass layoffs, AI’s impact on jobs at Chinese companies appears to be more limited for now.

average monthly salary That amount is 20,035 yuan (about $2,900) for high-demand algorithm engineers, online job platform Zhilian announced last month.

This translates into an annual salary of around $35,000, although this is considered a reasonable starting wage in China in US dollars; It’s almost ten times less than what Silicon Valley has to offer, despite much higher taxes and costs of living in the US.

A “tier 2” software engineer making about $300,000 in the U.S. would take a 50% pay cut if sent back to China, according to a human resources manager at a startup who formerly worked in Silicon Valley. baidu and TikTok. He asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak to the media in his current role.

“Two markets are fighting over the same group of people,” he said.

But sudden layoffs for Chinese citizens in the U.S. also threaten their immigration status, he said, noting that many engineers chose to return to China because it was difficult to find another U.S. job in time to meet residency requirements.

However, the transition is not always smooth. For those who have spent more time in U.S. companies, China’s long working hours and hyper-competitive environment may be shocking.

While work-from-home policies became widespread in the USA after the epidemic, companies in China turned to requiring staff to work in the office as much as possible. There is also a cultural dimension where many business leaders place greater emphasis on overseeing large numbers of personal teams and assistants.

Tina Zhou, founder of marketing startup Boomfluence.ai, said an engineer at a Chinese company may perform a wider range of tasks than an engineer at a similar US tech giant, making it difficult for AI to completely replace its role. He lives in Beijing and travels to San Francisco about once every three months.

Zhou added that many Chinese companies have more employees working on marketing and customer operations, not just engineering.

This doesn’t mean that AI-driven layoffs don’t affect Chinese companies: Alibaba’s It reported a more than 30% decline in headcount, which it attributed to business changes aimed at prioritizing AI work.

Tencentbut it was announced a modest increase in the total number of employees last year. Huawei said it has 114,000 employees in the study and development as of December, a year ago 113,000.

Current business structures also limit the impact of artificial intelligence. LSY’s Lu noted that companies in China are less digitalized than in the United States, where enterprise software is more widely used.

For example, despite OpenClaw’s recent popularity in China, he said, it is a product geared towards individual productivity rather than at the enterprise level.

Still, AI remains a hot topic for parents in China who have long been concerned about their children’s education and career success.

Zhang Xuefeng, a widely followed education influencer The man who died last month was seen in a video released in December of children up to sixth grade. Start learning about artificial intelligence and pay attention to related opportunities in engineering, robotics, and chips.

Chinese policymakers also face the task of striking a balance between supporting growth and technological innovation. Youth unemployment has remained at mid-to-high double-digit levels for the past few years, despite the urban unemployment rate hovering around 5%.

central bank advisor Huang Yiping China must continue high-tech development to drive economic growth, he told reporters on Tuesday, stressing that any artificial intelligence innovation must prioritize human needs.

— CNBC’s Matthew Chin contributed to this report.

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