AI hits an already weak jobs market

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China’s eagerness to adopt artificial intelligence arises as well as economic growth slows down, which put millions of routine jobs in danger.

“I plan to get rid of 360 [Security Technology’s] The whole marketing department. In this way, the company can save tens of millions a year, “said founder and president Zhou Hongyi in a Chinese language Video on Friday eveningtranslated by CNBC. It has since been seen more than 191,000 times on the popular Chinese platform Weibo alone.

Zhou, who has nearly 12 million followers on Weibo, said he was trying to use the next generative AI tool for the company to prepare a press conference for the product by itself in five days. The AI ​​Agent Plus research tool should be published on Wednesday.

Whether or not it is another Zhou sales scheme, which goes through the nickname “Red Shirt Big Uncle Zhou Hongyi”, the video captures an emerging reality: businesses in a hurry to reduce costs can increasingly replace jobs with AI.

The disturbing signs accumulate. Last week, the American financial giant Citi said it was Cut 3,500 technological jobs in China in October. In the United States Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei told Axios last month that AI could lead to unemployment rates from 10 to 20% Over the next few at five years.

In China, more companies are Discuss the efficiency led by AIEspecially in marketing and coding. The food delivery giant Meituan told investors at the end of May that around 52% of the new code had been generated by AI, against 27% disclosed in March.

Large Chinese technological companies are asking for the way new young recruits have IA skills, Shu Weibing, partner and COO in Hanghang AI.

“If a student does not know how to use AI, it will be very difficult to get a job,” said Shu in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

Hanghang Ai focuses on IA skills training. On June 6, he launched a “Global IA” platform to help entrepreneurs obtain initial funding for AI projects, even if they are still working day work.

So far, the platform has 70 participating investors and at least 50 projects on board, said Shu. He added that the goal is to Invest in 1,000 projects over three yearsEach receiving 10,000 yuans from three donors, totaling 30,000 yuan to relaunch each project.

Chinese authorities have encouraged efforts to kiss AI and robots, while increasing employment support. The Ministry of Finance announced Tuesday that it had allocated 66.74 billion yuan ($ 9.29 billion) For employment subsidies this year. On Monday, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technologies and the Ministry of Civil Affairs announced a two -year pilot program Test the use of robots for elderly care.

Persistent use fears

Admittedly, AI is not about to suddenly strike each industry.

But since the cocovid-19 pandemic, a persistent story, seen on Chinese social networks and in occasional conversations, is an uncertainty of employment.

Record graduates. More people get some support from their parents and continue higher diplomas. Companies reducing wages, bonus claws and closing departments, if they are not completely closed. Individuals and businesses have turned to social media and sold products via Livestream, where competition is still fierce, but the potential for success overnight.

Complete the labor market more complicated is a local culture that works, even if it means regular conferences on overtime and weekends. Unhealthy competition is more obvious on the Chinese electric cars market, where fierce competition has led to a race to the merits, which prompted warnings to the government to government Stop what is familiarly known as “Neijuan” or involution.

This does not even take into account the economic impact of climbing trade tensions, which led to a 34% plunging During China exports to the United States last month, official data showed on Monday.

About 16 million jobs in China are linked to American exports, said Goldman Sachs.

Monthly commercial surveys for May have shown contraction on the labor market in all areas.

The data indicates a situation rarely observed in the past decade, Huch Shan by Goldman Sachs said in an analysis published last week. “The labor markets are very low, especially in construction and among small businesses.”

But “the weakness of the labor market could be a catalyst” for more stimulus, according to the report. The main Chinese leaders generally hold a political meeting in late July.

The United States-China agrees on the framework after the London conferences. The United States and China have concluded a trade agreement, representatives said on both sides on Wednesday after a Second day of high -level talks in London. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone at the end of last week, stabilizing what had become a difficult relationship with the two countries that accused each other of raping the Geneva Trade Agreement.

The China consumer consumer price index fell in May. It was the Fourth consecutive negative reading. The basic IPC, which excludes food and energy prices, has recovered from a last view in January. Commercial data highlighted a modest export growth in May, while Imports have dropped much more than expectedAnother sign of low interior demand.

The United States has exaggerated Huawei flea developments. Thus says the CEO of the Chinese telecommunications company, in an interview published on the first page From the Journal of the Chinese Communist Party on Tuesday. Ren Zhengfei said that Huawei Chips was a generation behind those of us, the company finds means to fill the gap.

Chinese actions and Hong Kong climbed on Wednesday at the start of trade after leaders of the United States and China said they had reached an agreement on trade.

Continental China CSI 300 increased by 0.8% to its highest level in more than two weeks, while Hong Kong Hang Seng index – which includes large Chinese companies – increased by 0.6% to 11 a.m.

The CSI 300 lost approximately 0.97% while the Hang Seng index has earned more than 21.54% so far this year.