(Yicai Global) March 9 -- As the chatbot ChatGPT developed by US artificial intelligence firm OpenAI takes the world by storm, Chinese tech firms are actively recruiting AI engineers in a bid to stay ahead of the game.

Tech giants are hiking investment in AI, as the use of AI-generated-content technology is becoming more widespread, said Lin Fan, founder and chief executive of Maimai, China’s version of LinkedIn.

Headhunters and human resource departments are offering high wages for AIGC technicians on Maimai at the moment in an attempt to quickly recruit mid-to-high-end talent and get first-mover advantage, Lin said.

Chip engineers have dominated job placement lists for the high-income bracket ever since the Spring Festival holiday in January, closely followed by AI engineers. And the average salary offered is rising each month, reaching CNY28,000 (USD4,019) and CNY25,000 a month, respectively, according to data released by the recruitment platform Zhaopin last week.

And there are plenty of jobs available in the computer software, information technology, computer hardware, semiconductor, integrated circuit and other strategic emerging sectors on recruitment platform Zhaopin.

Big businesses are actively hiring AI professionals, some headhunters told Yicai Global. And they have high requirements concerning the person's educational background and level of experience in technical research and development.

Job seekers should develop key skills to improve their chances of finding work in the face of automation and in a rapidly changing job market, some recruitment platforms said. For instance, ‘soft skills’ such as digital tech, communications skills and other techniques are becoming more important.

About a quarter of the skill sets needed for the same occupation have changed between 2015 and 2021, according to LinkedIn data. This is set to reach 50 percent by 2027.

Many job hunters prefer this year to join state-owned and central government enterprises as they are able to grant their employees permanent resident status in the big cities.

"A few years ago, my university pals sought to work at big internet firms, but the situation is different this year," Wang Zheng, who is in his third year of postgraduate study at Beijing Institute of Technology, told Yicai Global. "There are much fewer people opting to apply for jobs in these companies as many of them are reducing their headcounts,” he said.

These days, people without a Beijing residence permit, also known as hukou, value whether their employers can provide this permit, Wang said. Once they have the residence permit, they put more emphasis on the wage and working environment.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor