Chinese Embodied AI Firms Offer Sky-High Salaries to Draw Top Talent

(Yicai) April 23 -- The fierce competition for top talent in the Chinese embodied intelligence sector has led many leading companies and startups to hike pay offers, with some failing to attract qualified candidates even with an annual wage of CNY1,000,000 (USD138,000).The monthly salary for entry-level embodied intelligence algorithm engineers has reached around CNY30,000 (USD4,140), for expert-level engineers around CNY50,000, and for world model engineers around CNY60,000, according to several job listings. Other in-demand roles include motion control algorithm and embedded software engineers, with most technical positions requiring a minimum of a master's degree.Most job seekers entering the embodied intelligence sector come from major internet, smart driving, and intelligent manufacturing companies, with employers placing heavy emphasis on candidates' previous work experience, headhunters and technical professionals told Yicai.Senior engineers in the embodied intelligence sector can generally earn about CNY1,000,000 a year, while business leads can make more through wages, signing bonuses, relocation allowances, stock options, and other incentives, a headhunter recruiting for robotics firms said to Yicai.Ubtech Robotics, the world's first humanoid robot maker to go public, launched a global search for a new chief scientist with a focus on androids and embodied intelligence at the start of this month, offering an annual salary of between CNY15 million and CNY124 million (USD2.2 million and USD18 million).Last year, TikTok owner ByteDance's cloud unit Volcano Engine started recruiting for a senior expert in algorithm manipulation with a clear focus on embodied robotics research and development, offering from CNY95,000 to CNY120,000 (USD13,110 to USD16,560) a month.An algorithm engineer who recently changed jobs told Yicai that he received invitations from three headhunting firms before switching, noting that startups often offer higher compensation packages than industry giants due to intense competition for embodied intelligence talent."Since the industry is still in its early stage of development, candidates with one to three years of experience in algorithm research are already highly sought after," the person pointed out.The embodied intelligence recruitment market suffers from a supply-demand mismatch, he added. "Companies are struggling to hire even with high salaries, unable to find interdisciplinary talents who understand both algorithms and real physical robots," he noted. "Job seekers also feel frustrated, as it is not easy to enter the field without sufficient project experience."To ease the shortage of technical talent, several companies have teamed up with universities to cultivate professionals. Beihang University, Beijing Institute of Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and other top schools have launched undergraduate majors in embodied intelligence."Embodied intelligence has high computing power requirements, but many universities lack training resources," the algorithm engineer pointed out. The talent shortage in the embodied intelligence sector will likely persist in the near term until university-industry tie-ups and academic programs yield results, he stressed.Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev