Research on the Coordinated Development of the Quality and Quantity of Employment of the New Generation of Migrant Workers

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to construct an evaluation system for the coordinated development of quantity and quality of employment among China's new-generation migrant workers. Based on five core dimensions’ employment capacity, environment, security, remuneration, and labor relations it establishes comprehensive indicators to dynamically measure the coordinated level of employment quality at the national and provincial levels from 2011 to 2023. The study seeks to reveal the evolutionary laws and structural contradictions of this system, identify regional heterogeneity, dynamic polarization, and short-board bottlenecks, and provide theoretical and policy support for addressing the coexisting dilemma of "difficulty in recruiting workers" and "difficulty in finding jobs" while promoting high-quality and full employment.  

Materials and Methods: This study employs the CRITIC objective weighting method to determine indicator weights and introduces a multi-system coordination index model along with kernel density estimation to calculate static/dynamic coordinated development indices.  

Findings: The comprehensive evaluation of employment quality reveals significant static regional heterogeneity, with a persistent development gap between high- and low-performing regions. Dynamic evolution analysis indicates that overall employment quality is improving, but this improvement is accompanied by local polarization. Policy intervention has driven short-term convergence and long-term differentiation in resilience. The coordination index evaluation reveals multidimensional structural weaknesses, among which employment security and labor remuneration have become key bottlenecks restricting overall coordinated development.

Implications to Theory, Practice, and Policy: Theoretically, it reveals the impact mechanism of the five-dimensional synergy of employment ability, environment, security, compensation, and relationship on the coordination of quantity and quality of employment for the new generation of migrant workers, enriching the theoretical explanation of the "quantity and quality imbalance" in structural employment contradictions. At the policy level, it is recommended to establish a dynamic monitoring system, coordinate the five-dimensional improvement policies, implement regional differentiated interventions, and address the shortcomings in employment security and labor remuneration. In practice, providing quantitative guidance for government planning and enterprise manpower adjustment, alleviating the contradiction between skill mismatch and insufficient guarantees, and promoting high-quality and full employment.