The local employment rate for vocational students has increased to the highest level in nearly 10 years.

This article is reprinted from Jiangmen Daily

2025 Jiangmen City Vocational Education Quality Report Released with Key Data Showing Growth

Local employment rate for vocational students reaches a new high in nearly 10 years

Chen Canmin is a 2025 graduate of Jiangmen First Vocational Technical School’s Accounting Program. After graduation last year, she chose to stay at her internship company, Jiangmen Fuli Wanda Realm Hotel, to start her career. “During school, thanks to the school’s comprehensive industry-education integration system, I was able to undergo high-quality training at the company, gain a full understanding of corporate culture and industry trends, and master job skills. After careful consideration, I decided to stay at the hotel to work and contribute to Jiangmen’s economic development,” Chen said.

On February 25, the Municipal Education Bureau released the 2025 Jiangmen City Vocational Education Quality Report. Our review shows that many core data points are trending upward, including an 8% increase in the local employment rate for vocational graduates—reaching a new high in nearly a decade. Chen is one example. Education experts believe that vocational education, as one of the education types most closely linked to regional economies, plays a core role as a “reservoir” of local technical and skilled talents. The significant improvement in the local employment rate has multi-dimensional importance for regional economic development.

Text/Photo by Lü Zhongyan

3,637 people stayed in Jiangmen for employment, accounting for 70% of first-time job seekers

In interviews, several vocational school officials stated that as more graduates choose to stay in the local area for employment, it effectively reduces recruitment and training costs for companies, decreases talent outflow and skill mismatches, and transforms educational investment into local economic benefits. It also enhances regional industrial competitiveness. Therefore, enabling more graduates to stay locally for high-quality employment has been a consistent goal for vocational schools and education authorities.

In 2025, the city’s vocational school graduates’ first-time employment totaled 5,154 (excluding those continuing education). Of these, 3,637 stayed in local employment, accounting for 70.1%, an increase of 279 from the previous year. In terms of employment distribution, 4,442 vocational graduates found jobs in small, medium, and micro enterprises, making up 86.2% of first-time job seekers. “Small, medium, and micro enterprises are vital to Jiangmen’s economic development, with strong demand for technical and skilled talents. The precise supply of vocational graduates effectively alleviates the ‘difficulty in hiring’ for these enterprises,” said a relevant official from the Education Bureau.

This official believes that the rise in the local employment rate of vocational graduates is closely related to Jiangmen’s vocational education strategy, which aligns with regional development plans, directly connects with 15 key industrial chains, and constructs a professional system characterized by “industry adaptation, dynamic adjustment, and cluster development.” A dynamic adjustment mechanism for professional settings has also been established.

In the 2025 academic year, Jiangmen’s vocational schools offered 151 majors. In July 2025, six majors—Mechatronics Technology Application at Nanhui Mechanical and Electrical Vocational Technical School, Computer Graphic Design at Wuhangliang Polytechnic School in Kaiping, Nursing at Taishan Health Vocational Technical School, CNC Technology Application at Heshan Vocational Technical School, E-commerce at Kaiping Mechanical and Electrical Secondary Vocational School, and Computer Graphic Design at Peiying Vocational Technical School in Taishan—passed the Guangdong Province’s third batch of “Double Precision” demonstration professional construction project acceptance. Additionally, the city added eight new professional clusters, forming high-level professional clusters recognized by Guangdong Province.

Innovating Industry-Education Integration Models to Precisely Support Local Enterprises

Jiangmen’s vocational education centers on deep industry-education integration, continuously enriching and innovating models to supply high-quality, high-skilled talents to local enterprises. This is also a key factor in improving the local employment rate of vocational graduates.

At the municipal level, efforts focus on key industries and fields, promoting organic integration of education chains, talent chains, industry chains, and innovation chains. The city continues to strengthen cooperation with key enterprises in the home appliance industry, exploring joint development of industry colleges, order-based classes, virtual order classes, and other multi-party training modes. The city’s Development and Reform Bureau, Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Industry and Information Technology Bureau, and Science and Technology Bureau jointly guide vocational colleges in applying for 2025 city-level industry-education integration projects, with 20 new projects approved after review.

Facing the dual challenges of digital transformation in county industries and a shortage of e-commerce talents, Kaiping Wuhangliang Polytechnic School has partnered with Guangdong Kaiping Cultural Tourism Media Co., Ltd. and Kaiping Excellence Vocational Training School to establish the “Kaiping Digital Intelligence E-commerce Industry College.” Key approaches include: institutional innovation to build a school-enterprise collaborative community; implementing a director-responsible system under the leadership of the council to ensure resource integration; creating a “four-chain integration” training loop where students operate real company stores and plan live broadcasts, applying learning outcomes directly to business practice, with top projects receiving incubation support; expanding service functions to create a “two-way empowerment” regional platform, including a “Small and Medium Enterprise Digital Empowerment Center” and a “Rural Revitalization E-commerce Service Station,” providing technical diagnostics, operational support, skills training, and sales matching for local businesses and farmers, directly supporting regional economic development.

Heshan Vocational Technical School has also launched the “Craftsman Talent Program,” transforming traditional internship models into elite-style training. Selected students receive targeted practical skills reinforcement in their second year, and in their third year, they undertake professional skills “real combat” training at enterprise-based “Craftsman Talent Practice Bases.”

Beyond staying in Jiangmen for employment, many students are excelling on the job. Qiu Gangchao, a 2022 graduate of CNC Technology Application at Heshan Vocational Technical School, is now a Quality Team Leader at Guangdong Suoqi Electrical Appliance Technology Co., Ltd. During his internship, he started in an auxiliary equipment assembly role, systematically studied company testing standards with an open mind, repeatedly honed instrument operation skills, and successfully resolved potential equipment faults, earning widespread recognition. Just two months after graduation, he was promoted due to his quick problem-solving ability. His growth exemplifies how personal effort and potential can be harnessed through industry-education integration to produce practical skills talents for the region.

4,627 students advanced to higher vocational colleges; 43 students entered undergraduate programs

In addition to the improvement in local employment rates, other key data for Jiangmen’s vocational education also steadily increased. Regarding income, the average starting salary was 3,406.46 yuan/month, an increase of 45.96 yuan year-on-year.

In terms of further education, Jiangmen’s vocational education focuses on building a “secondary, higher, and undergraduate” integrated training system, promoting pathways for further studies to achieve “skills + academic qualifications” dual enhancement, continuously elevating talent cultivation levels. In 2025, the number of students in integrated secondary and higher vocational programs increased to 35 majors, with a total planned enrollment of 1,540 students, representing double growth. Jiangmen First Vocational Technical School and Guangzhou University of Science and Technology, as well as Nanhui Mechanical and Electrical Vocational Technical School and Guangzhou Software College, launched pilot projects for integrated vocational bachelor’s degree programs, which were among the first in Guangdong Province.

In 2025, 4,627 vocational graduates advanced to various higher vocational colleges, accounting for 45.55% of total graduates. Among them, 43 students successfully entered undergraduate programs. Both higher vocational and undergraduate enrollment numbers increased.

Regarding faculty development, in 2025, Jiangmen’s vocational education focused on the core of dual-mentor training, establishing a “school-enterprise mutual appointment, two-way empowerment” dual-teacher team-building mechanism. This promoted teachers’ transition from “lecture hall” to “workshop,” enhancing practical teaching ability and industry relevance. That year, 832 teachers from enterprise-partnered companies participated in industry practice; 214 industry mentors were hired, including 3 national craftsmen and model workers; mentors collectively provided 7,692 hours of instruction annually.

Kaiping Mechanical and Electrical Secondary Vocational School collaborated with leading regional enterprises to establish “Enterprise Expert Workstations” in CNC technology, auto repair, and e-commerce majors. Each semester, 8–10 technical backbone or skilled artisans are invited as enterprise mentors to deliver modular teaching, project training, and technical lectures, directly bringing cutting-edge standards, processes, and enterprise case studies into classrooms. Through mutual appointment and visits, students’ skills and employment competitiveness are both enhanced. The employment match rate and starting salaries of graduates are significantly above regional averages, with enterprise satisfaction exceeding 95%.