New Delhi, Oct 10 The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to champion AI as a symbol of national progress, but there is no parallel policy to retrain displaced workers, create new employment avenues, or provide social safety nets, a new report has revealed.
Instead, the country “obscures real unemployment figures, presenting an overly optimistic picture while millions of young professionals spiral into uncertainty,” reports Nepal-based media outlet Hamrakura.
China’s youth unemployment crisis is no longer a temporary shock; it is a structural transformation driven by AI adoption and government inaction.
“Once considered the backbone of the country’s digital economy, programmers now find themselves discarded in droves as artificial intelligence reshapes the industry. What was once a respected, high-paying career path has become a precarious existence, marked by layoffs, shrinking opportunities, and a pervasive sense of despair,” the report argued.
China has between 7-9.4 million programmers, and AI has rendered many of their skills obsolete.
In 2025, large internet companies reported that only 20–30 per cent of their code was AI-generated.
“Across platforms like Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, Meituan, and JD.com, stories of mass layoffs have become routine,” said the report.
It further stated that by prioritising technological advancement over human livelihoods, “the CCP has abandoned the very generation that once fuelled China’s rise”.
After repeated layoffs, some of them have returned to their hometowns and “retrained as an electrician, plumber, carpenter echoing Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s prediction that electricians and plumbers will be in high demand in the AI era”.
However, China’s slowing economy, declining real estate sector, and shifting supply chains leave fewer opportunities for graduates entering the workforce.
Moreover, this atmosphere of collective anxiety has transformed workplaces into pressure cookers, where survival depends not on skill but on whether someone else is forced out first, said the report.
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