About the author
Li Zuojun, Director and Researcher, Institute of Public Administration and Human Resources, Development Research Center;Cao Jie is a research Xi in the Enterprise Personnel Management Research Office of the Chinese Academy of Human Resources and Social Security.
The "China County Economic Development Report 2024" (published by the National Academy of Administration Press), written by experts organized by the Organizing Committee of the China County Economic Development Conference, will be published in the first half of next year. This article is part of chapter VIII of the report.
Talent is the primary resource and the key driving force to promote the high-quality development of the county economy. Different types of talents play different roles and importance in counties with different development orientations and different stages of development, and the demand for different types and levels of talents in different counties is also different.
The county economy is the basic unit of the national economy. The high-quality development of the county economy needs to be supported by a talent team that adapts to its functional positioning, meets its economic and social development needs, and serves its production, supply and marketing. Party and government talents, enterprise management talents, professional and technical talents, high-skilled talents and marketing talents play an important role in the economic development of the county.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, significant progress has been made in the development of talents at the county level, with a significant increase in the total number of talents at the county level, continuous optimization of the talent structure, gradual optimization of the talent layout, continuous improvement of the quality of talents, and steady improvement of talent efficiency.
There are many reasons for the effectiveness of county-level talent development, such as attaching great importance to county-level talent development, adhering to talent leadership to promote county-level economic development, actively innovating talent work methods, and creating a good environment for attracting talents.
At the same time, there are still some problems in the development of talents at the county level in China:
First, the total number of talents is insufficient. On the one hand, there is an overall shortage of talents at the county level across the country. Nationwide, in the past decade, nearly seventy percent of the permanent population of county-level cities has been decreasing, of which about 15 are county-level cities with a permanent population decline rate of more than 20%.6%。The population of county-level cities has decreased significantly, and the total number of talents has also decreased, and the total number of talents is insufficient. On the other hand, there is a serious shortage of talents in underdeveloped counties. From the perspective of the total number of talents in each county-level city, the talents in the county-level cities around the big cities and the more economically developed ones are relatively concentrated. Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, which ranks first among the top 100 counties, will account for 41 talents in the registered population in 20239%。Zhejiang Shengzhou and Shandong Shouguang accounted for 28 talents7% and 228%。Jianyang City, Sichuan, ranked 100th among the top 100 counties, has a talent ratio of 108%。In Susong County, Anhui Province, which is outside the top 100 counties, the proportion of talents is only 38%。In many impoverished counties, human resources are even more scarce.
Second, there is a serious brain drain. First, there is a serious loss of highly educated young party and government cadres. According to the survey, from 2017 to 2019, the number of civil servants and staff of public institutions in the four counties and districts of Fufeng County, Long County, Linyou County and Jintai District in Shaanxi Province increased by 2,595, decreased by 3,226, and decreased by 631. There are 135 civil servants from outside the county, of which 109 have a bachelor's degree or above, accounting for 807%；108 people are under the age of 40, accounting for 80%. Second, the loss of professional and technical backbones is serious. According to the statistics of relevant departments, from 2012 to 2017, the loss of various talents in Dunhua City, Heilongjiang Province reached more than 1,100 people, and the loss of professional and technical backbones was serious. Among them, 134 teaching backbones were lost, and 121 professional and technical backbones were lost in municipal hospitals. Since 2000, a county in Ningxia has lost a total of 169 key high school teachers, mainly to economically developed provinces and cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong. Yinchuan Senior High School and some private senior high schools account for 15% of the total number of middle school teachers in the county.
Third, the structure and layout of talents need to be optimized. First, the distribution of high-level talent industries is uneven. By the end of 2017, Susong County, Anhui Province had a total of 985 people with deputy senior titles or above, of which 858 were in the education system, accounting for 871%；49 people in the health system, accounting for 49%；36 people in the agricultural system, accounting for 37%；The rest of the units accounted for a total of 43%。The number of high-level talents at the county level is obviously polarized between the three major systems of education, health, agriculture and other systems. Second, high-level talents are older. In 2021, the Yueqing Economic and Information Bureau of Zhejiang Province conducted a survey of 232 technical and skilled talents, and the results showed that less than 2% of high-skilled talents under the age of 35 were under the age of 35. Susong County, Anhui Province, has the title of deputy senior or above, and most of them are over 50 years old. Although the age of high-level talents at the county level is in line with the law of talent growth, it is not conducive to mobilizing the enthusiasm of promising young people.
Fourth, the quality of personnel needs to be improved. First, the educational level of talents at the county level is low. According to the "National Report on the Development of High-quality Farmers", in 2022, 60 of China's farmers have an education level of high school or above68%。In 2016, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Japan were respectively7%。It can be seen that as early as six years ago, the education level of peasants in the above-mentioned countries surpassed that of China. Since the county-level talents are mainly agricultural producers and operators, the above data can also roughly reflect the overall educational level of county-level talents in China. From the data of county-level cities, the number of full-time master's degree or above in government agencies, enterprises and institutions in Yanting County, Sichuan Province accounts for only 0 percent of the county's population28%。The number of people with college degree or above in Shouguang City, Shandong Province accounts for 25% of the total number of skilled talents;The number of technical secondary school (including high school and vocational high school) accounts for 55% of the total number of skilled talents;The number of people with junior high school education or below accounts for 20% of the total number of skilled talents. Second, the level of professional titles and vocational skill levels of talents at the county level is not high. Different from the knowledge level reflected by the education level, the professional title and vocational skill level reflect the professional ability and skill level of the talent in the process of employment, which is another important yardstick to measure the quality of the talent. Judging from the data of county cities, the level of professional titles and vocational skill levels of county talents in China needs to be improved. There are more than 220,000 employees in the electrical industry cluster in Yueqing City, Zhejiang Province, of which only about 10% are senior and intermediate titles, and about 90% are junior and without professional titles. There are nearly 100,000 on-the-job skilled workers in Shouguang City, Shandong Province, of which the number of senior technicians accounts for about 0 of the total number of skilled workers3% and technicians account for about 25% and senior workers accounted for 63%, and intermediate workers accounted for 205%, and junior workers accounted for 311%。In addition, nearly 40% of skilled workers are still not recognized by the corresponding vocational skill level.
Fifth, the effectiveness of talents needs to be improved. Entering a new stage of development, the overall growth rate of China's labor productivity has slowed down, and the efficiency of talents needs to be improved. At present, the labor productivity of some underdeveloped county-level cities that have not completed the transformation and upgrading of industrial structure can still be improved through physical capital accumulation and economies of scale. However, on the whole, the improvement of labor productivity in county-level cities is in a plateau, and it is urgent to increase the accumulation of human capital. Since the beginning of the new century, by virtue of the "catch-up effect" and "structural effect", China's labor productivity has increased rapidly. However, with the increase of per capita income level and the change of industrial structure, the catch-up space of agriculture, industry and construction industry is gradually decreasing. There is still room for development in knowledge- and technology-intensive industries, but it is necessary to rely on the accumulation of human capital to improve labor productivity, and the slow accumulation of human capital leads to the improvement of talent efficiency for a long time.
Sixth, the business environment needs to be improved. The business environment includes the environment of employment opportunities, remuneration and benefits, welfare protection, promotion and upgrading, rights protection, spiritual and cultural environment, infrastructure environment, living facilities environment, and natural ecological environment. Creating a smart business environment is a systematic project, which requires a comprehensive approach in the above nine aspects. For example, Yumen City in Gansu Province has realized that the cultivation and training mechanism in its talent work is not perfect, the cultivation and training effectiveness is not strong, and the phased knowledge update and capacity improvement around economic and social development are not timely. Xiangshan County, Zhejiang Province has made great efforts to create an ecological environment for talents, but there are still problems, mainly including the low concentration of talents due to the weak industrial base, and the difficulty of adjusting the industrial structure to adapt to the adjustment of the talent structureThe accuracy and implementation of policies are low, and the advantages of policy differentiation are not obviousThe talent training carriers are scattered and few, and the level of talent self-sufficiency is lowThe conditions for entrepreneurship and innovation are not mature, the atmosphere is not strong, and it is difficult to release the potential of talentsThe quality of life in the city is not high, and there is a lack of attraction for talents in terms of hardware. The results of the assessment of the talent development environment at the county level in Shandong Province show that the problems existing in the talent development environment at the county level in Shandong Province mainly include the talent innovation business platform and the insufficient supply and sharing of basic education resources. At the same time, many county-level cities have deficiencies in the creation of promotion and upgrading environment, spiritual and cultural environment, and natural ecological environment.
The above problems need to be solved by taking targeted measures.