The statistic shows the distribution of the workforce across economic sectors in China from 2013 to 2023. In 2023, around 22.8 percent of the workforce were employed in the agricultural sector, 29.1 percent in the industrial sector and 48.1 percent in the service sector. This year, the share of agriculture increased for the first time in more than two decades, which highlights the difficult situation of the labor market due to the pandemic and economic downturn at the end of the year.

Distribution of the workforce in China

In 2012, China became the largest exporting country worldwide with an export value of about two trillion U.S. dollars. China’s economic system is largely based on growth and export, with the manufacturing sector being a crucial contributor to the country’s export competitiveness. Economic development was accompanied by a steady rise of labor costs, as well as a significant slowdown in labor force growth. These changes present a serious threat to the era of China as the world’s factory. The share of workforce in agriculture also steadily decreased in China until 2021, while the agricultural gross production value displayed continuous growth, amounting to approximately 7.8 trillion yuan in 2021.

Development of the service sector

Since 2011, the largest share of China’s labor force has been employed in the service sector. However, compared with developed countries, such as Japan or the United States, where 73 and 79 percent of the work force were active in services in 2021 respectively, the proportion of people working in the tertiary sector in China has been relatively low. The Chinese government aims to continue economic reform by moving from an emphasis on investment to consumption, among other measures. This might lead to a stronger service economy. Meanwhile, the size of the urban middle class in China is growing steadily. A growing number of affluent middle class consumers could promote consumption and help China move towards a balanced economy.

In 2023, China's labor force amounted to approximately 772.2 million people. The labor force in China indicated a general decreasing trend in recent years. As both the size of the population in working age and the share of the population participating in the labor market are declining, this downward trend will most likely persist in the foreseeable future. A country’s labor force is defined as the total number of employable people and incorporates both the employed and the unemployed population. Population challenges for China One of the reasons for the shrinking labor force is the Chinese one-child policy, which had been in effect for nearly 40 years, until it was revoked in 2016. The controversial policy was intended to improve people’s living standards and optimize resource distribution through controlling the size of China’s expanding population. Nonetheless, the policy also led to negative impacts on the labor market, pension system and other societal aspects. Today, China is becoming an aging society. The increase of elderly people and the lack of young people will become a big challenge for China in this century. Employment in China Despite the slowing down of economic growth, China’s unemployment rate has sustained a relatively low rate. Complete production chains and a well-educated labor force make China’s labor market one of the most attractive in the world. Working conditions and salaries in China have also improved significantly over the past years. Due to China’s leading position in terms of talent in the technology industry, the country is now attracting investment from some of the world’s leading companies in the high-tech sector.

In 2023, the employment rate in China decreased to around 63.09 percent, from 63.57 percent in the previous year. China is the world’s most populous country and its rapid economic development over the past decades has profited greatly from its large labor market. While the overall working conditions for the Chinese people are improving, the actual size of the working-age population in China has been shrinking steadily in recent years. This is mainly due to a low birth rate in the country.

Economic slowdown – impact on labor market

After decades of rapid development, the world’s second largest economy now seems to have difficulties to boost its economy further. The GDP growth rate indicated a declining trend over the last decade and the number of employed people decreased for the first time since decades in 2015. Under the influence of the global economic downturn, the coronavirus pandemic, and the US-China tensions, many Chinese enterprises are having tough times, which leads to a recession in China’s labor market.

Chances for better employment situation

The long-lasting Sino-U.S. trade war has caused China great loss on its international trade sector, which has been driving China’s economic growth for decades. However, there is also a lot China could improve. First, the potential of domestic demands could be further developed and satisfied with high-quality products. Second, it’s a good timing to eliminate backward industries with low value added, and the high-tech and environment-friendly industries should be further promoted. In addition, China’s market could be more open to services, especially in the financial sector and IT services, to attract more foreign investors. Highly skilled talents should be better valued in the labor market. Efficient vocational education and further education could also help change the structure of China’s labor market.

In 2023, about 982.9 million people in China were estimated by the UN to be at a working age between 15 and 64 years. After a steep increase in the second half of the 20th century, the size of the working-age population reached a turning point in 2015 and figures started to decrease thereafter. Changes in the working-age population China's demographic development is characterized by a rapid change from a high fertility rate to a low one. This has caused the development of an arc shaped graph of the working age population: quickly increasing numbers before 2010, a gradual turn with a minor second peak until around 2027, and a steep decline thereafter. The expected second maximum of the graph results from the abolishment of birth control measures after 2010, which proved less successful in increasing birth figures than expected. The same turn can be seen in the number of people eligible for work, with an accelerated downturn in the years of the coronavirus pandemic, where many people left the labor force. It is very likely that the size of the labor force will rebound slightly in the upcoming years, but the extent of the rebound, which parallels the second maximum of the working age population, might be limited. China's labor market China's labor market was once defined by its abundant and cheap labor force, but competition for talent has been getting increasingly tense in recent years. This development is very likely to further intensify and extend itself into the less skilled ranks of the labor market. As the number of people who fall within the retirement age group is increasing and adding to the burden on the economy, steps to keep labor participation high are necessary. Raising the retirement age and providing incentives to stay in the labor force, are measures being implemented by Chinese government. Strategies to increase labor productivity would be ideal to mitigate the pressure on the Chinese economy, however, realizing such strategies is challenging.

In 2023, the rate of surveyed unemployment in urban areas of China amounted to approximately 5.2 percent. The unemployment rate is expected to decrease slightly to 5.1 percent in 2024 and the following years. Monthly unemployment ranged at a level of around 5.2 percent in the third quarter of 2024. Unemployment rate in China In 2017, the National Statistics Bureau of China introduced surveyed unemployment as a new indicator of unemployment in the country. It is based on monthly surveys among the labor force in urban areas of China. Surveyed unemployment replaced registered unemployment figures, which were often criticized for missing out large parts of the urban labor force and thereby not presenting a true picture of urban unemployment levels. However, current unemployment figures still do not include rural areas.A main concern in China’s current state of employment lies within the large regional differences. As of 2021, the unemployment rate in northeastern regions of China was notably higher than in China’s southern parts. In Beijing, China’s political and cultural center, registered unemployment ranged at around 3.2 percent for 2021. Indicators of economic activities Apart from the unemployment rate, most commonly used indicators to measure economic activities of a country are GDP growth and inflation rate. According to an IMF forecast, GDP growth in China will decrease to about 4.8 percent in 2024, after 5.2 percent in 2023, depicting a decrease of six percentage points from 10.6 percent in 2010. Quarterly growth data published by the National Bureau of Statistics indicated 4.6 percent GDP growth for the third quarter of 2024.

In 2018, manufacturing labor costs in China were estimated to be 5.51 U.S. dollars per hour. This is compared to an estimated 4.45 U.S. dollars per hour in Mexico, and 2.73 U.S. dollars in Vietnam.

Manufacturing jobs in the United States

Many people in the United States believe manufacturing jobs to be the backbone of the U.S. economy, despite employment in the manufacturing sector decreasing since 1997, and the monthly change in manufacturing employment being highly variable. Although manufacturing added a value of about 10 percent to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018, employment in the United States has been moving away from manufacturing to other means of employment.

A difference in earnings

Part of this steering away from manufacturing could be due to a difference in labor costs. While hourly wages in Vietnam were less than three U.S. dollars in 2018, hourly wages in the U.S. manufacturing sector hovered around 27 U.S. dollars in 2018. The labor costs in the U.S. could simply be too high for companies, who look to countries such as China, Mexico, and Vietnam for cheaper labor.

This statistic shows the labor productivity per hour worked in China from 2005 to 2024. In 2024, the estimated labor productivity per hour in China reached 16.1 dollars measured in 2017 constant U.S. dollars PPP.

Shell, former Royal Dutch Shell, employed approximately 103,000 people worldwide in 2023. Shell is one of the top six publicly traded oil and gas companies (also known as ‘Big Oil) worldwide, operating in every segment of the oil and gas industry. It is also one of the largest companies worldwide by revenue. The company is headquartered in London, United Kingdom and was established through a merger of United Kingdom-based Shell Transport and Trading Company and the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company of the Netherlands. Shell - the global employer Shell employs people all around the world. In 2023, the majority of its workforce was located in Asia, at 38,000. Following Asia was Europe, with 31,000 employees, then North America with 24,000 employees. Africa had 4,000 employees. South America had the least number of employees, at 1,000. Oil and gas sector employment Russian majority state-owned gas giant Gazprom is the biggest oil and gas employer worldwide. In 2023, it employed around 492,000 people. Gazprom was followed by PetroChina, which is the publicly traded daughter of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. Shell did not rank among the ten largest employers in the industry, the majority being state-owned.

In 2024, around 171,000 people were employed by the Ford Motor Company and entities. Net income grew from a profit of around 4.3 billion in 2023 to a profit of around 5.9 billion in 2024. The fiscal year end of the company is December, 31st. Restructuring to save costs Ford says it needs to restructure if it wants to become more profitable, and restructuring will probably mean job cuts, visible in 2020 to 2022. In 2018, the automaker’s profits in North America took a hit due to higher warranty costs, but it is the divisions in China and Europe that were at the core of Ford’s lower than expected performance. Ford’s European sales dipped below the million unit mark in 2018, and auto shoppers in China were not attracted to Ford’s model lineup, but preferred Volkswagen’s Lavida and SAIC-GM-Wuling’s Hongguang. Restructuring continued through 2023 as the company focuses more of its operations on electrification and tech. Battery powered and driverless vehicles are gaining a deeper market penetration in the worlds largest auto markets. New models to save the day In 2024, Ford announced the release of its Model Year 2025 Bronco Sport, Maverick, and Mustang GTD. The brand is also taking steps to assert itself in the growing electric vehicle market. With investments of some eight billion U.S. dollars in engineering, research, and development, the automaker is committed to its electric transition, and has started the delivery of its e-Transit electric vans to customers. However, Ford will have to contend with plug-in electric vehicle market leaders BYD and Tesla, as well as with the rapid growth of Chinese brands such as SAIC.

The United States oil and gas extraction industry employed some 116,000 people in 2023, including both full-time and part-time employment. The 2020 oil crisis brought about by the coronavirus pandemic led to a decline of 15,000 people in this industry’s workforce, a trend that continued throughout the following two years. Wellhead pumpers make up the largest occupation group in the U.S. oil and gas extraction industry. Employment at ExxonMobil ExxonMobil is among the largest employers within this industry. The Texas-based oil supermajor is active in all areas of the supply chain, from hydrocarbon exploration to fuel retailing. In 2023, the number of employees at ExxonMobil amounted to around 61,500 people. This was a loss of over 10,000 jobs when compared to pre-pandemic years. State-owned supermajors are largest industry employers on global stage With its workforce of some 60,000 people, ExxonMobil ranks far below any of the largest oil and gas companies by employment worldwide. The majority of companies listed are state-owned enterprises, such as Russia’s Gazprom and China’s PetroChina. As of 2024, both employed around 400,000 people each. India-based Reliance Industries is the largest privately held company within this ranking, providing nearly 390,000 jobs.

Alibaba Group Holding, China’s biggest e-commerce company, had 204,891 full-time employees by the end of March 2024. Alibaba is the second most-valuable listed internet company in China and among the largest ones in terms of revenue.

What is Alibaba Group?   

The company was founded in Hangzhou, China in 1999 by a group of people led by a former English teacher Jack Ma. It started as an online platform helping small Chinese businesses to reach global buyers. Alibaba Group went public in September 2014 and broke all records with a total IPO of 25 billion U.S. dollars. Today, the company operates a number of e-commerce, retail, internet service, and fintech-related businesses all around the world. It is best known for its Alibaba.com B2B e-commerce platform (including 1688.com and AliExpress.com segments), C2C marketplace Taobao, B2C online retail platform Tmall, and online payment platform Alipay.

Who are Alibaba’s employees?   

As of the beginning of 2020, Alibaba had more employees than Yahoo and Facebook combined. The majority of them were based in China. As of 2019, over one-third of Alibaba’s senior management were female and around 45 percent of all staff were under 30 years old. In 2023, Eddie Wu, who is one of the co-founders of the company, replaced Daniel Zhang in the role of Alibaba's CEO and executive chairman. Every year on May 10, Alibaba Group celebrates Employee Appreciation Day. All employees, also called Aliren, bring their families to the company campus for an all-day carnival.

China is the largest labor force market in the world. China’s economic prosperity wouldn’t exist without the large number of people working in this country. With increasing living standards and growing inflation, the wages of employees in China are increasing as well. As of 2022, average wages in China increased to114,029 yuan from 47,593 yuan in 2012.

Wage gap between regions

The wages vary in China depending on sector, position, gender and region like in any other country. Since China’s different regions have developed unequally, the wage gaps between people working in different regions can also be very large. This is a reason for no single minimum wage being set for the entire nation. The local governments set minimum wages based on local living standards. Considering the city tier, the wage standards are higher in cities with higher rankings. Shanghai and Beijing have the highest minimum wage standards in China. Although the minimum wages in China have been increasing, the standards are still lower than in developed countries.

Challenges of increasing labor costs

Increasing wages also make the labor force market less attractive. Affected by increasing labor costs and the China-United States trade war, many companies are transferring their investment destinations, especially in the manufacturing sector. Local governments are also taking measures to ensure the living costs remain at a reasonable level to retain companies and employees. These measures include regulating the residential housing market more strictly.

The statistic shows Mexico’s GDP from 1987 to 2023, with projections up until 2029. In 2023, Mexico’s GDP amounted to approximately 1.79 trillion U.S. dollars.

Economy of Mexico

GDP is an indicator primarily used to gauge the state and health of a national economy. GDP is the total market value of all final goods and services that have been produced within national borders in a given period of time, usually a year. GDP gives us an insight into a country’s economic development over a period of time, how its development fits in with international shifts and how it is affected by the factors that affect market economies.

The demand among some segments of the Chinese workforce for fairer payment, coupled with higher transportations costs, have been key factors in increasing the competitiveness of Mexican manufacturing, with some suggestions being made that it is already cheaper than China for the many industries that serve the lucrative United States market. The Mexican economy is, however, far from trouble-free. And although the gross domestic product in Mexico has been increasing, it is showing that it is struggling to match up to the fast pace of growth and prosperity being seen in some of the BRIC countries, as well as the usual suspects of economic success, the United States, Canada and others.

Inequality in Mexico remains a huge problem. The education system in the federation’s thirty-one states is in dire need of reform, and in some of the states, especially in those closest to the US border, brutal criminal drug lords'rule. It is important for Mexicans that they embrace the opportunity that they find themselves presented with at present and harness the energy of their large population , the newly arrived foreigners and their educated youth, in order to provide the country with the future prosperity that it most desperately needs.

The statistic shows the growth of the real gross domestic product (GDP) in India from 2019 to 2024, with projections up until 2029. GDP refers to the total market value of all goods and services that are produced within a country per year. It is an important indicator of the economic strength of a country. Real GDP is adjusted for price changes and is therefore regarded as a key indicator for economic growth. In 2024, India's real gross domestic product growth was at about 7.02 percent compared to the previous year. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in India Recent years have witnessed a shift of economic power and attention to the strengthening economies of the BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The growth rate of gross domestic product in the BRIC countries is overwhelmingly larger than in traditionally strong economies, such as the United States and Germany. While the United States can claim the title of the largest economy in the world by almost any measure, China nabs the second-largest share of global GDP, with India racing Japan for third-largest position. Despite the world-wide recession in 2008 and 2009, India still managed to record impressive GDP growth rates, especially when most of the world recorded negative growth in at least one of those years. Part of the reason for India’s success is the economic liberalization that started in 1991and encouraged trade subsequently ending some public monopolies. GDP growth has slowed in recent years, due in part to skyrocketing inflation. India’s workforce is expanding in the industry and services sectors, growing partially because of international outsourcing — a profitable venture for the Indian economy. The agriculture sector in India is still a global power, producing more wheat or tea than anyone in the world except for China. However, with the mechanization of a lot of processes and the rapidly growing population, India’s unemployment rate remains relatively high.

In 2019, the unemployment rate in the Philippines was at approximately 2.24 percent and on a steady downward trend from 3.6 percent in 2014.

Souvenirs from overseas

The Philippines’ economy relies heavily on remittances from overseas, i.e. money sent home by Filipino emigrants and workers in other countries. In 2016 alone, approximately 30 billion U.S. dollars were received as remittances in the Philippines, and the amount seems to increase significantly every year. This makes the Philippines one of the leading countries worldwide when it comes to receiving remittances, only surpassed by India and China.

Visitors from overseas

The Philippines’ economy is stable, not only because of remittances, but also because of a flourishing services sector, which is now the main generator of GDP in the country; tourism and IT in particular contribute to economic growth. More than half of the Philippines workforce is employed in services.