The Changes of Labor Skill Structure in the Process of Chinese Modernization

In the process of continuously strengthening the development of new driving forces and steadily upgrading the industrial structure, the contemporary labor skills structure in China is also undergoing historic changes. By establishing an age-period-cohort model, this article finds that in the structural changes of labor skills in China, the demands for complex problem-solving skills and social communication skills in employment positions increase with the evolution of time, while that for technical operation skills decreases with the evolution of time. At the same time, the different dimensions of labor skill structure also show significant differentiation at different ages and cohorts. The youth group and later cohorts have higher demands for complex problem-solving skills and social interaction skills in employment positions, while that for technical operation skills shows a downward trend in both the period and cohort dimensions. The transformation of labor skill structure reflects not only the employment creation effect dividends brought by technological progress in high-quality economic development, but also the risk of some workers being replaced by technology due to labor skill bottlenecks.