Guangdong's "Strongest Spring Recruitment" Behind the Scenes: The Convergence of Two Industries Reshapes Talent Flow

“East, West, South, North, Center, and now Guangdong.” This saying has been vividly illustrated once again.

On March 15th, the “Million Talents Gathering in Southern Guangdong” 2026 Spring Large-Scale Comprehensive Job Fair officially launched at the Canton Fair Complex, Area D, in Guangzhou. Youth students from all over the country lined up to enter the exhibition hall, which was bustling with activity. This job fair involved all 21 cities in the region, with nearly 2,000 employers offering over 85,000 positions. On the first day alone, nearly 120,000 job seekers attended.

It is understood that among the more than 85,000 positions available, hundreds offer annual salaries of one million yuan, mainly in modern public services, software and information technology, and fields like PhDs and postdoctoral researchers. Xpeng, for example, is offering 40 positions with annual salaries of one million yuan, including large model algorithm engineers and autonomous driving product specialists.

What signals are being sent behind Guangdong’s “strongest spring recruitment”? Southern Finance reporters note that this job fair has innovatively adopted a “two-hall zoning and industry clustering” model for the first time. Hall 17.1 focuses on modern services, with booths for software, finance, scientific research services, and more; Hall 17.2 emphasizes advanced manufacturing, featuring new energy vehicles, low-altitude economy, intelligent equipment, and other industries.

This arrangement reflects Guangdong’s current unique phenomenon: using “industry integration” as a strategy to promote talent development. At this year’s “First Spring Conference,” Guangdong explicitly stated that it aims to leverage manufacturing strength to enhance modern services, and vice versa, to open new avenues for industrial growth through the mutual achievement of “strong manufacturing” and “high-level services.” The boundaries between manufacturing and services are gradually dissolving, creating a strong sense of urgency to break down talent barriers. Industry integration is bringing new opportunities for talent.

Industry Integration Creates “New Positions”

The “Million Talents Gathering in Southern Guangdong” is moving toward “industry zoning and precise matching,” which is a direct implementation of the industry integration strategy at the talent level, responding to Guangdong’s dual drive of “manufacturing dominance” and “modern service upgrades.”

Hall 17.1 focuses on “modern services,” while Hall 17.2 highlights “advanced manufacturing.” These two halls represent hard technology and soft services, respectively, resonating with each other professionally and industrially.

A particularly notable highlight at the job fair is the low-altitude economy. After being included in government work reports for three consecutive years, the low-altitude economy has been upgraded from an “emerging industry” to a “new pillar industry,” alongside integrated circuits, aerospace, and biomedicine, and has become part of the national strategic emerging industries.

On the upper floor, Guangdong Huitian from Tianhe showcased the Traveler X2 aircraft; downstairs, in the modern life services zone, Tianhe Investment Group recruited an unprecedented number of low-altitude business managers. The recruitment director told reporters, “The low-altitude economy is developing rapidly. Our company just won a drone project, and we urgently need professionals who understand airspace management and flight approval, as well as those familiar with low-altitude policies. Since drone business is new, such talent is quite scarce.”

More companies like Guangdong Huitian are increasingly relying on user experience, data operations, and service capabilities to compete. Today’s manufacturing companies need versatile service talents who understand technology, users, and markets more than ever.

Guangdong’s manufacturing “backbone” is sprouting “new branches” of services. “Industry integration” is not simply “manufacturing + services,” but a deep fusion of manufacturing and services in the era of digital intelligence, moving in both directions. At the job fair, this deep integration is giving rise to a series of “new positions” targeting emerging industries.

The “White Paper on Coordinated Development of Manufacturing and Services in Guangdong Province” proposes promoting the service-oriented transformation of manufacturing, guiding raw material companies to shift from selling products to selling “products + technical service packages,” and supporting equipment manufacturing firms to move from selling equipment to providing comprehensive solutions.

Xpeng Motors offers 40 positions with annual salaries of one million yuan, including large model algorithm engineers and autonomous driving product specialists. Dr. Wu, who joined Xpeng last year, now works on autonomous driving algorithms. He told reporters, “When I was job hunting, I specifically aimed at autonomous driving. Guangzhou has highly competitive companies like WeRide and Pony.ai, with a deep foundation in autonomous driving.” From automotive manufacturing to intelligent mobility services, Xpeng’s transformation exemplifies the service-oriented shift in manufacturing.

The White Paper also emphasizes promoting the manufacturing of services, supporting R&D, design, e-commerce, and other service companies to extend into manufacturing, and launching independent brand products. For example, ZTE showcased the “Doubao Phone,” which can “help you do work,” while simultaneously recruiting AI algorithm engineers and IC development engineers. The boundary between service and manufacturing is being reshaped, from communication equipment to smart terminals and AI services.

New Positions Behind High Salaries

This transformation has also spawned a batch of “hot” positions on the new trend. At the job fair, AI-related roles such as AI artists, AI storyboard artists, and short video planning managers attracted many job seekers.

Yan Bing, Vice President of Yongsheng Animation, said they are recruiting AI artists and storyboard artists who excel at using AI as a “digital tool,” focusing on how to leverage new technology to assist in transforming creative ideas into visual images. “We’re not hiring AI roles to replace humans entirely, but to find versatile talents who can creatively play with new technology.”

In fact, these emerging roles are an important part of this job fair.

Cutting-edge technologies like embodied intelligence are driving the accelerated integration of native AI applications with the real economy, which is key to developing new productive forces and also demands new cooperation in systems, infrastructure, and talent. The talent pool capable of filling these roles is limited, and companies often offer high salaries to attract top-tier talent. This is especially evident at this fair, where Guangdong companies are willing to pay high wages to attract “high-end, cutting-edge” talent from Southeast Asia.

Nearly 30,000 positions pay between 200,000 and 500,000 yuan annually, over 4,000 exceed 500,000 yuan, and Xpeng is recruiting 40 positions with annual salaries of one million yuan. High-paying roles are concentrated mainly in research and development, software, and information technology services.

GAC Group is hiring a data mining lead for intelligent driving and a cockpit system chief engineer; Xpeng’s vehicle R&D director and large model algorithm experts are also earning over one million yuan annually; Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group is recruiting top-tier talent in cell gene therapy, antibody drugs, nucleic acid drugs, and nuclear medicine, with annual salaries ranging from 500,000 to 3 million yuan.

A job seeker with a background in IoT and information hubs told reporters she expects a salary around 300,000 yuan per year. She observed that PhD salaries in research institutions are generally at this level. The reporter also found that high-paying positions are mainly held by two groups: experienced senior engineers, executives, or overseas talent, and PhD holders capable of deep technical specialization.

Most of these high-salary roles are in emerging industries like autonomous driving, biomedicine, and new materials, which also attract many young job seekers. On the data display at the job fair, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group’s booth consistently ranked among the top three in popularity, with long queues of applicants. The company later introduced an online ticketing service, greatly improving recruitment efficiency. Staff said that between morning and noon, 500–600 people had taken numbers.

However, high salaries also come with higher expectations. Dr. Wu, an autonomous driving algorithm engineer who joined Xpeng last year, said his team has 10 members, including three PhDs and the rest Master’s degree holders. “With higher education, the company’s expectations are also higher. On one hand, your skills and abilities need to generate value for the company; on the other hand, you might be prioritized for development.”

The recruitment head of Shenzhen Kairui New Energy Equipment Technology Co., Ltd., which specializes in automated lithium battery equipment, said, “We focus on stacking and lamination processes, and require high-level engineers in these areas, which are quite scarce.” As the company moves into mass production, the demand for “skilled, experienced” technical talent continues to grow. “There are many senior engineers, but truly specialized ones are rare.”

The deeper the PhD’s expertise in a specific field, the more urgent the need for precise matching. Two Master’s graduates in biomedicine admitted that due to their specialization, it’s difficult to find fully aligned R&D roles. “PhDs tend to narrow their focus the more they study, so they need more targeted positions.” Fenghua Gaoke’s recruitment manager said, “Our company has over 20 PhDs, all highly specialized in electronic components.”

From Industry Integration to Bay Area City Competition and Cooperation

The simultaneous appearance of 21 cities in Guangdong is both a showcase and, to some extent, a competition and cooperation.

Since the Guangdong High-Quality Development Conference in February focused on “collaborative development of manufacturing and services,” the Pearl River Delta cities have quickly responded, demonstrating their commitment to industry integration at the “First Spring Conference.” At this job fair, these strategic deployments are translating into real talent demands and industrial practices.

Shenzhen emphasizes scene experience, with the theme “Zhenqi Fifteen Five, Talent Gathering for a New Journey,” featuring nearly 400 companies and over 21,000 positions. The immersive tech exhibits include embodied robots, AI filming glasses, foldable projectors, and other cutting-edge products.

Guangzhou, with its extensive job offerings and top-tier salaries, extends an “Invitation to Young Talents.” Over 1,200 enterprises and institutions participated in on-site recruitment, offering more than 37,000 positions. Tianhe District’s main leader, for the second time, personally participated as “Chief Talent Officer,” engaging deeply with company representatives and issuing a sincere invitation to “Come to Tianhe, succeed immediately.” Their top-level focus on talent shows strong determination to attract and retain talent.

Zhuhai uses the “Bridge Skeleton” as a visual symbol, incorporating elements of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, highlighting its role as the “core city on the west bank of the Pearl River.” Featured positions include aircraft engine maintenance and biomedicine R&D. A recruitment officer from a civil aviation aircraft maintenance company said they are here to hire engineering and technical talent.

Dongguan highlights its manufacturing foundation, empowering high-quality development through productive services. Products like the China Spallation Neutron Source model,弦less guitar, and foldable phones showcase “Dongguan’s intelligent manufacturing.” Policy-wise, Dongguan has implemented the “Kunpeng Plan 2.0,” building a full-chain listing service matrix and strengthening support for high-level talent.

Zhongshan displays products from Mingyang Wind Power and Kangfang Biotech, representing “Zhongshan’s intelligent manufacturing.” During the “First Spring Conference,” Zhongshan launched a 500 million yuan “Computing Power Voucher” to help enterprises upgrade digitally, and released the "AI + " service platform with 138 mature solutions to lower digital transformation barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises.

From “pursuing industry” to “pursuing ecology,” from “pursuing services” to “pursuing policies,” the Bay Area cities are attracting talent with more distinctive and youthful approaches at this Spring job fair.