Zhaopin’s 1H 2026 AI talent report: AI hiring employers +24.8% YoY, openings
+10.6% YoY. R&D/technical roles make up the largest share; HR, sales and product
entered the top 15. First- and new first-tier cities account for 65% of AI
hiring demand; Beijing is the largest market and Shanghai has the fastest
openings growth; Changsha, Wuhan and Chengdu lead new first-tier growth.
Demand-to-supply ratio for AI engineers is 2.62; AI product manager openings
surged 87.7% YoY. AI agent development demand rose 244% YoY, signaling movement
from assistive tools toward autonomous execution. Aerospace shows notable
engineer demand and pay; auto R&D/manufacturing faces a severe AI engineer
shortage (demand-to-supply 8.2). New energy AI engineer openings grew 38.2% YoY.
AI product managers are accelerating into pharmaceuticals and auto; in
pharmaceuticals pay reaches up to 21,048 yuan.