Demand-driven dynamics and evolutionary patterns of graduate employment in China based on recruitment big data

Research on graduate employment had traditionally emphasized talent cultivation while insufficiently addressing labor market dynamics, which generated structural challenges such as persistent mismatches between labor supply and demand and delayed policy responses. To address these issues, this study adopted a demand-driven perspective to investigate the dynamics and evolutionary patterns of graduate employment in China, with particular attention to industry-specific competency structures and shifting talent requirements. Drawing on more than one million job postings for recent university graduates collected from leading Chinese recruitment platforms, the analysis employed text mining, statistical modeling, and longitudinal trend analysis to uncover patterns in graduate labor demand. The findings showed that employers placed sustained emphasis on soft skills, while demand for digital and applied expertise, particularly in fields such as computer science and artificial intelligence, experienced substantial growth. Interdisciplinary integration was identified as a salient dimension of contemporary talent requirements. Although recruitment activities were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a prolonged reduction in job opportunities, post-pandemic recruitment salaries exhibited a gradual yet fluctuating upward trend, which suggested a progressive realignment between graduate supply and demand. This study enriched the theoretical understanding of demand-driven employment dynamics, provided empirical evidence to support anticipatory policy development.