Don’t take “high wages advertised online” as proof of labor shortages — check local lists of in‑demand occupations and subsidy programs instead

Cost: No expense at all. You just need to look up two local documents.

In plain terms: The amount of training subsidies each region offers for a given occupation is set based on how urgently that occupation is needed and on the cost of training. Thus, the subsidy level itself shows whether workers are in short supply locally. Claims online about “monthly earnings for a certain job” are usually just posted rates on hiring platforms or self‑reported figures. Those figures come mainly from people who are already earning money, and they ignore working hours, commuting time, occupational illnesses, and seasonal fluctuations.

Benefit: The subsidy amounts serve as an official measure of which occupations are in short supply. Policies require “a differentiated subsidy system based on how urgently an occupation is needed, its training costs, and other factors,” so each area defines its own list of subsidized vocational training programs accordingly. Consequently, the difference in subsidy levels for the same occupation across cities directly reflects how much that occupation is in demand locally.

Evidence grade: C

Sources:国务院就业促进和劳动保护工作领导小组 (2025). 关于开展大规模职业技能提升培训行动的指导意见. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202507/content_7032222.htm；国家统计局 (2026). 2025年城镇单位就业人员年平均工资情况：「规模以上企业就业人员年平均工资为106080元，其中，中层及以上管理人员210016元，专业技术人员155491元，办事人员和有关人员94936元，社会生产服务和生活服务人员79857元，生产制造及有关人员80739元」. https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfb/202605/t20260515_1963707.html；人力资源社会保障部就业培训技术指导中心 (2023). 2022年第四季度全国招聘大于求职「最缺工」的100个职业排行（中国就业网）. https://chinajob.mohrss.gov.cn/c/2023-01-30/367442.shtml

Notes: Official wage statistics are broken down only into five broad occupational categories; no figures exist for individual jobs. According to 2025 data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the average annual wage at large‑scale enterprises is roughly 106,080 yuan. Managers at mid‑level and above earn about 210,016 yuan per year, while professional and technical staff earn around 155,491 yuan. Clerical workers earn 94,936 yuan, production workers 80,739 yuan, and workers in social services and daily life sectors earn 79,857 yuan. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security publishes a “Top 100 Occupations in Short Supply” list on the China Employment Network; the latest edition covers the fourth quarter of 2022 and is compiled from recruitment and job‑seeker data collected by public employment services in 102 cities nationwide. Most online claims about monthly earnings for specific jobs are based on posted rates or personal reports — figures that come largely from those already earning money and that do not account for working hours, commuting, occupational hazards, or seasonal variations. To gauge true labor demand, consult the subsidy lists on your local Human Resources and Social Security Bureau website and check the rankings of job openings compiled by public employment services. Finally, talk to current workers on construction sites, in factories, and at retail outlets. 〔106000〕 〔210000〕 〔155000〕