Bolstered by forms and models of business, new professions like operation and maintenance personnel of industrial robot systems, ability appraisers for the elderly, and online marketers have sprouted up in China, bringing more choices for young Chinese in the job market.

(Photo/Xinhua)

Tan Hui, who has more than 10 years of experience as a geriatric doctor, is now an ability appraiser for the elderly in a nursing home in Zhuzhou, central China’s Hunan province.

By evaluating seniors’ abilities including their cognitive and mental state, perception, communication and social participation, Tan issues comprehensive assessment reports to help divide the elderly residents into different grades to determine how much care they require.

Industry statistics show China now needs about 1.5 million ability appraisers for the elderly, but the number of people working in this job is currently less than 100,000.

As a new profession, ability appraisers for the elderly could pave the way for tailored senior care services, according to Tan.

Chen Hehua, an engineer from the second plant of Yuxiang Ceramic Industry Co., Ltd. in Liling of Hunan, is also the operation and maintenance personnel of several robotic arms in the plant.

An operation and maintenance personnel of industrial robot systems usually performs data collection, status monitoring, fault diagnosis, and maintenance operations on industrial robots and their systems with a variety of monitoring instruments and maintenance equipment.

Last year, the company sent Chen to an equipment supplier to learn how to maintain robotic arms. Now, Chen maintains and conducts spot checks on the robots every day to ensure appropriate lubrication of parts and temperature of the equipment.

Thanks to Chen’s efforts, the robotic arms can reduce the product damage rate, which was high when human workers transported the products between the 15 links in the production, by about 10 percent and double the efficiency of transferring products on the production line.

Workers are more motivated to become technical talent due to the emergence of new types of work and new professions in the plant, Chen said.

Born after 2000, live streamer Xiaowan, who was a still model in Zhuzhou, never expected that she could become a popular online marketer, who has been trying on down jackets for online shoppers since early autumn.

Xiaowan received training from her company on clothing design, marketing skills and other professional knowledge before becoming an online marketer.

“I can introduce all of the selling points of a piece of clothing in less than a minute,” she said.

To upgrade the traditional wholesale markets, Hunan Tianze Huali E-Commerce Co., Ltd. started training live streamers and online marketers in December 2019, with Xiaowan among the first batch of applicants.

Live streamers are not the only game in town, said Li Tianyun, the company’s deputy general manager, hoping that more talents will become online marketers to promote more diversified and sustainable development of online marketing.