A Research Report Unveils the Impact of Short-Video Live Streaming Platforms on High-Quality and Full Employment in China

A Research Report Unveils the Impact of Short-Video Live Streaming Platforms on High-Quality and Full Employment in ChinaOn February 26, 2024, the China Institute for Employment and Livelihood at Renmin University of China released a research report (2024) titled Research Report on the Promotion of High-Quality and Full Employment by Short-Video Live Streaming Platforms (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"). The report shows that, by the end of 2024, the Kuaishou platform alone had driven 43

A Research Report Unveils the Impact of Short-Video Live Streaming Platforms on High-Quality and Full Employment in China

• On February 26, 2024, the China Institute for Employment and Livelihood at Renmin University of China released a research report (2024) titled Research Report on the Promotion of High-Quality and Full Employment by Short-Video Live Streaming Platforms (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"). The report shows that, by the end of 2024, the Kuaishou platform alone had driven 43.2 million job opportunities and fostered 174 new occupations.

The report points out that, as a typical representative of the digital economy, short-video live streaming platforms have developed rapidly in recent years. They have not only played a significant role in promoting economic development but have also profoundly impacted employment through diverse business models such as "live streaming +". Zhou Guangsu, vice president of the China Institute for Employment and Livelihood at Renmin University of China, introduced the research's objectives and provided an in-depth interpretation of the core findings.

Using the Kuaishou platform as a case study, the report systematically summarizes the mechanisms by which short-video live streaming platforms promote high-quality and full employment. First, these platforms lower the barrier to entry, leading to inclusive, large-scale employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. Second, by promoting "live streaming +" industries such as live commerce, they have created new business models and a large number of new jobs, especially providing more employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for young people. Third, the "live streaming recruitment" model has driven the online, video, and intelligent transformation of the labor market, significantly improving the efficiency of job matching. Finally, short-video live streaming platforms break through the limitations of space and time, creating more convenient conditions for employment and entrepreneurship for key groups.

The booming development of "live streaming +" industries has spawned numerous new business models, with the employment-promoting effect of live commerce being particularly significant. The report estimates that by the end of 2024, the Kuaishou platform had driven 43.2 million job opportunities: 23 million directly (including short-video creators and broadcasters earning income through the platform) and 20.2 million indirectly. The indirect jobs encompass 5.73 million in the content ecosystem (e.g., MCN agencies, live streaming guilds, service providers) and 14.47 million in the live commerce ecosystem (e.g., jobs related to live streaming rooms and the upstream and downstream industrial chain).

Live commerce and other "live streaming +" industries, leveraging their unique ecological advantages, deeply empower the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, creating numerous job opportunities. The report calculates that every 100 million yuan increase in live commerce GMV can generate approximately 1,200 new jobs, fully demonstrating its strong job-creation power. For example, Wen Miao, a post-00s university graduate, transitioned from Northeast Agricultural University to become a "live streaming atmosphere creator" in the live commerce sector. In less than six months, she helped sell tens of thousands of agricultural products, successfully transitioning from campus life to the e-commerce field.

Ouyang Rihui, vice president of the Institute of Internet Economy at Central University of Finance and Economics, believes that short-video live streaming platforms are not only platforms for showcasing individual talent but also platforms for achieving precise matching of supply and demand between consumers and merchants. They carry the hopes of countless small and medium-sized businesses and millions of jobs. Live commerce has become a new reservoir of employment, providing strong impetus for socioeconomic development.

The report also points out that the development of short-video live streaming platforms has greatly promoted the emergence of new occupations. Many occupations listed in the new occupations and jobs released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in July 2024, such as online broadcasters, live recruitment specialists, lifestyle service experience officers, and user growth operation specialists, originated from the "live streaming track," fully demonstrating the platform's role in driving new occupations. Kuaishou, with its over 700 million users and rich live streaming ecosystem, has fostered 174 new occupation types rooted in its business model, greatly expanding China's occupational map and creating a large number of new jobs.

The new occupations created by the short-video live streaming ecosystem have expanded employment opportunities for young people, offering them more choices in employment and entrepreneurship. Surveys show that 90% of young people are optimistic about new digital occupations, indicating that the short-video live streaming industry is absorbing a large amount of employment and forming a professionalized occupational ecosystem. Chen Lixiang, vice president of the China Society for Vocational and Technical Education and former party secretary of the China Employment Training and Technical Guidance Center of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, stated that as the short-video live streaming ecosystem and industry deepen their integration, more new business models and occupations will continue to emerge. The integration of short-video and live streaming platforms with the real economy, empowering the digital transformation of traditional industries, can achieve a multiplicative effect on employment in the digital age.

Furthermore, Kuaishou's innovative "live streaming recruitment" model has significantly improved the efficiency of job matching, establishing an efficient and direct communication bridge between job seekers and enterprises and greatly promoting the online process of recruitment. Zhou Guangsu mentioned that the research found that public employment service departments in multiple regions have begun to offer free live operation vocational skills training courses, covering areas such as e-commerce operation, short-video production, and live streaming e-commerce. This "teach a man to fish" training approach not only helps key groups find employment but also provides them with the possibility of long-term career development.

In conclusion, the report points out that short-video live streaming platforms, based on their core businesses, continuously radiate and empower upstream and downstream industries and the real economy, playing a crucial role in promoting high-quality and full employment. Their positive effects in lowering the barrier to entry, creating new business models, improving job matching efficiency, and breaking through the limitations of space and time have injected new vitality into China's job market and provided new ideas and methods for addressing employment issues. The continued development of these platforms will create job opportunities for more people and promote sustained socioeconomic progress.

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