Internet of Things (IoT) professionals, including drone drivers, agricultural managers, IoT installation and commissioners, and industrial robot system operators were among the 13 new jobs recognized by China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS).
The Ministry, along with the General Administration of Market Supervision and the Bureau of Statistics, jointly released the new occupations list on April 1.
This is the first occupations list issued since the promulgation of the 2015 National Occupational Classification, according to the Ministry.
The Ministry explained that China’s economy has shifted in the past few years that it now requires more high-level workers for its high-tech industries. Hence, the need for new occupations such as artificial intelligence engineering technicians, Internet of Things engineering technicians, big data engineering technicians and cloud computing engineering technicians.
It likewise recognized that with industrial robots replacing simple labor on production lines and the advent of large-scale use of industrial robots, there is a need for industrial robot system operators and system operators, as well as drone drivers.
Meanwhile, it said the widespread application of the Internet of Things (IoT) has created the demand for jobs involved in IoT installations.
Moreover, the professionalization of e-sports, operators and e-sportsmen has become a necessity, in the same way that the modernization of agriculture requiring high-tech equipment has opened the need for agricultural managers.
The 13 new occupations are as follows:
- artificial intelligence engineering and technical personnel
- Internet of Things engineering and technical personnel
- big data engineering technicians
- cloud computing engineering technicians
- digital managers
- building information model technicians
- e-sports operators
- e-sportsmen
- drone drivers
- agricultural managers
- IoT installation and commissioners
- industry robot system operator
- industrial robot system operator
According to the Ministry, China released the first occupations list in 1999, when the country was going through rapid development and new forms of businesses have emerged. This first list included 1,838 occupations. The new career release system has been followed since then.
Ahead of the release of the latest list, the Occupation Skill Testing Authority (OSTA), which is under the MHRSS, released on January 25, 2019 a definition of each of these 13 skills, plus two other jobs — urban rail transit line workers and urban rail transit train maintenance workers.
Citing a report from China Economic Information Service, China Daily reported in September 2018 that the IoT market in China reached more than 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion) in 2017 and is expected to maintain rapid growth in the next few years.
An earlier report published by the GSMA in June 2018, projects Greater China to dominate global industrial IoT market, with an estimated 13.8 billion IIoT connections globally by 2025.
