AI Roles, Pay Jump at Shanghai’s First College Graduate Jobs Fair of 2026

(Yicai) March 3 -- The growing need among employers for artificial intelligence talent was on full display at Shanghai’s first major jobs fair of the year for college graduates, with both the number of AI roles on offer and the pay packages tied to them swelling from last year.Around 1,000 employers attending today’s event had more than 13,000 job openings in total. Among these, AI-related tech positions, including for large language model and algorithm engineers, were up more than 10 percent on 2025.Remuneration for these high-skill roles has increased significantly. Monthly pay for algorithm engineers specializing in agent development can reach as much as CNY40,000 (USD5,600), underscoring the premium employers are willing to pay for advanced AI expertise.“With the arrival of the large model era, companies are competing fiercely for AI talent,” said Zhang Bo, senior vice president at Shanghai-based Westwell Technology, which provides smart logistics solutions.“More than 90 percent of our openings at this fair are AI-related,” Zhang noted. The R&D department alone has over 20 positions covering AI algorithms and programming.”The autonomous auto industry is developing rapidly, and companies’ talent and research requirements are evolving accordingly, Zhang noted, adding that Westwell was hoping to find top young AI professionals at the job fair.Rapid progress in the autonomous driving industry is changing employers’ knowledge and skills needs, he said, adding that Westwell aimed to recruit outstanding young AI professionals at the jobs fair and add them quickly into project teams.He Tianhou, director of human resources at the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Yicai that it plans to hire graduates to strengthen its AI materials research and development division, which was formed last year.“We believe that combining AI and big data technologies will help us achieve better R&D outcomes,” he said.The division aims to apply AI and big data to the research, development, and production of new inorganic non-metallic materials, upgrading the traditional “trial-and-error” model to AI-driven smart development.Zhou Guoliang, director of the Shanghai Municipal Employment Promotion Center, which coordinated public services for the fair, said AI is evolving into a cross-industry foundational skill. Even candidates not targeting AI roles should develop a baseline of AI literacy, Zhou pointed out.Editors: Tang Shihua, Tom Litting