The main industries in the counties where Anyang City belongs include: The fine steel industry in Linzhou Industrial Gas Distribution Park, the equipment manufacturing industry in Linzhou Industrial Agglomeration Area, the tourism industry in Linzhou, the ceramics industry in Neihuang Industrial Agglomeration Area, the food, medicine and medical equipment industry in Tangyin Industrial agglomeration Area, the textile and garment industry in Baizhuang Dyeing and Printing Industrial Park in Anyang County and Yigou Dyeing and Printing Industrial Park in Tangyin, the large agricultural product trading base dominated by Neihuang Fruit and Vegetable City, Neihuang County Rehabilitation equipment industrial park, etc. At present, the talents cultivated by Anyang Vocational and Technical School mainly focus on computer application, new energy vehicle technology, automotive service and marketing, early childhood care and other specialties. The professional Settings of vocational schools in Anyang do not match the industrial structure of Anyang, which leads to a mismatch between the skilled talents cultivated and the skilled talents needed by enterprises in the county of Anyang. Advanced manufacturing, strategic emerging industries, modern service industries, modern agriculture, and cultural tourism integration industries are the industries that Anyang focuses on developing in the future during the 14^th Five-Year Plan. According to the enrollment plans of various vocational colleges in Anyang City in 2025 (as shown in Figure 1), it can be seen that the cultivation of skilled talents does not match the demand for talents in the future development industries of Anyang City.

Source: https://jyj.anyang.gov.cn/2025/06-09/2477518.html.

Figure 1. Enrollment ratio of vocational colleges in Anyang city in 2025.

It can also be seen from the above enrollment plan that there are not many talents needed for industrial revitalization in the rural revitalization plan, especially agricultural talents. The main reasons for the imbalance between supply and demand of skilled talents are:

There is a problem of poor coordination in the training system for skilled talents. As early as 2018, China established the inter-ministerial joint conference system for vocational education under The State Council, which is led by the Ministry of Education and covers nine departments and units including the Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the State Taxation Administration and the Poverty Alleviation Office. This system has strengthened the ability to coordinate and handle major issues in the field of vocational education. But it still faces many difficulties in its actual implementation. The current coordination mechanism is difficult to effectively integrate the diverse interests of different subjects, resulting in problems of poor collaboration among various subjects in the allocation of vocational education resources and the determination of talent cultivation goals. The overlapping functions and regulatory loopholes among vocational education administrative departments have led to low efficiency in the implementation of some policies. Due to factors such as local economic development conditions and the degree of emphasis on policies, there are significant differences in the development levels of vocational education in different regions. The imbalance in the input of vocational education resources has restricted the improvement of the overall effectiveness of the skills training system.

There is a disconnect between industry enterprises and the cultivation of skilled talents. The current model of vocational education development leads to a lack of intrinsic motivation for enterprises to participate in vocational education, making it difficult to build a stable and sustainable industry-education integration ecosystem. It is difficult for cutting-edge technologies in industries and real job demands to be effectively integrated into the vocational education curriculum system, resulting in a structural deviation between the supply of talent cultivation and the actual market demand. In terms of resource integration, an efficient information exchange and collaboration platform has not yet been established between industry enterprises and vocational colleges. There is no effective alignment between industry technical standards and teaching and training standards, resulting in a significant gap between the skilled personnel output by vocational colleges and the employment demands of enterprises. The demands of industries and enterprises have not been directly translated into the driving force, educational resources and development opportunities for vocational education ([2]). This disconnection not only undermines the ability of vocational education to serve industrial upgrading, but also affects the strategic goals of industry enterprises to achieve talent reserves and technological innovation through vocational education.

A survey of enterprises in Anyang found that many enterprises found it difficult to recruit skilled workers, especially in positions such as production operators, where the demand for skilled workers was high, but the supply of skilled workers in the local labor market could not meet the demands of enterprises; There are also positions such as development engineers and sheet metal engineers, which have high requirements for the professional skills of skilled workers, but the skill levels of local job seekers cannot meet the demands of enterprises. The reasons for the difficulty in recruiting talents in these enterprises include the structural problems caused by the inconsistency between the cultivation of skilled talents in Anyang and the demand for talents in Anyang; There is a lack of appeal for skilled positions; Social cognitive biases affect people’s enthusiasm for skilled work. Many young people consider it a disgraceful thing to engage in skilled labor and consider it inferior. The existence of this perception has led many students to be reluctant to apply for vocational schools. At the same time, because the admission threshold for vocational schools is relatively low, it is easy to get into vocational schools. Undergraduate colleges, on the other hand, are generally not easy to get into because of their higher admission requirements. In contrast to the two, it is generally believed that regular undergraduates are better than vocational students. Family concepts also influence students. Families attach more importance to students’ general education, hoping they will go to high school and college, rather than vocational education, which largely affects students’ concepts and leads to fewer students choosing vocational education. The notion that most businesses value academic qualifications more than skills still exists. Companies have not broken away from the old concept of employing people, resulting in few opportunities for skilled workers to advance and personal growth incentives. In society, skilled workers hope to be recognized by society, to be respected by society, and to have their labor given due value. But because of old ideas, what skilled workers hope for has not been implemented. Due to the prevalence of this mentality, there is a mismatch in talent evaluation, resulting in an insufficient supply of skilled talents. Compared with developed regions, the wages and benefits of county-level enterprises in Anyang City are not high, the working environment is poor, the promotion space is narrow, and the social status is not high, which leads young people to be reluctant to work as industrial workers in county-level enterprises. As a result, there are even fewer skilled workers willing to stay in the counties of Anyang.

Many county-level enterprises in Anyang City have problems with the loss of skilled workers. The first reason for this is that economically developed regions attract skilled workers. The overall shortage of skilled workers in our country is large, and the demand for skilled workers in the areas along rivers and coasts, which are the main regions in need of skilled workers, is still increasing. At the same time, companies in these regions are attracting skilled workers from all over the country in various ways, such as high salaries, talent settlement, and free food and accommodation. Secondly, there is a lack of incentives for the growth of skilled workers. As front-line talents, companies do not set up good career development paths for skilled workers, allowing them to adjust their positions, get promoted, or participate in enterprise management based on actual circumstances. This kind of human resource management makes it possible for today’s skilled workers to fail, and they need more attractive positions or remuneration systems to drive them to work hard. For instance, local Minshan Group in Anyang City has effectively stimulated the wage enthusiasm of skilled workers by applying modern enterprise management models and allowing skilled workers to participate in shares, resulting in less loss of skilled workers. Last but not least, the training of skilled workers has not been given due attention. The current enterprise talent development system pays great attention to professional and technical personnel, but the resource input for the skills training of front-line workers is seriously insufficient. This has left the improvement of workers’ vocational skills lagging behind the pace of technological progress. In the face of the rapid iteration of industrial technology, some enterprises have failed to adjust their talent development strategies in a timely manner and have difficulty adapting to the new development demands. Some business managers are also more inclined to avoid short-term risks when making decisions on talent development, spending high costs to hire highly skilled talents from outside. This practice leads to a lack of sustained motivation for the improvement of employees’ skills, which is detrimental to the stability and sustainable development of the enterprise’s talent pool.

Further optimize the professional layout system of vocational education. Based on the actual needs of economic and social development in Anyang City, through systematic planning and rigorous argumentation, create a professional system suitable for regional industrial development and promote the deep integration of vocational education specialties with regional industries. Focus on the development needs of key industries such as high-end equipment manufacturing, as well as emerging industries such as new materials and new energy, dynamically optimize the professional structure, and cultivate professional clusters with Anyang characteristics. Promote the specialization of specialties and effectively address problems such as redundant construction, homogeneous competition and inefficient resource allocation of specialties. In the process of optimizing the professional layout, in light of the trend of industrial structure transformation and upgrading in Anyang City, improve the professional early warning and exit mechanism. Adjust or merge majors that are out of step with industrial demands and have poor employment prospects in a timely manner. Keep an eye on the latest developments in the industry and add emerging majors in a timely manner to ensure that the professional Settings are in line with regional industrial development. In addition, with the construction of professional clusters as the center, integrate vocational education resources within the region, strengthen professional complementarity and cooperation among schools, build industry-education integration communities, and effectively enhance the pertinence and effectiveness of vocational education in serving regional economic development.

Focus on building a dynamic talent cultivation and regulation system. Build a big data analysis platform covering multiple dimensions such as industrial data, enterprise employment demands, and graduate employment directions, and conduct regular evaluations of the fit between vocational education professional structure and regional industrial structure. Guided by quantitative indicators, the professional Settings will proactively adapt to the dynamic demands of industrial structure adjustment and upgrading. For specialties that are closely related to key industries such as high-end equipment manufacturing in Anyang City, as well as emerging industries such as new materials, and have strong social service capabilities and a high demand for enterprise talents, establish a professional project construction system. By setting up special development funds, giving priority to the allocation of teaching staff and practical training resources, we will promote the intensive and connotative development path and create regional vocational education characteristic professional brands. Conversely, for specialties that result in waste of resources and imbalance between supply and demand of talents due to low-level repetitive construction, the professional adjustment and exit mechanism shall be strictly implemented.

Build a multi-party collaborative governance system for vocational education and deeply activate the enthusiasm of industry enterprises to participate. Through institutional innovation and policy-driven approaches, build a new pattern of vocational education governance where the government takes the lead, enterprises are deeply involved, and industry organizations are coordinated and linked. In line with national policy orientation, actively guide enterprises and vocational colleges to explore the path of mixed-ownership education. By clarifying property rights relations and standardizing the boundaries of rights and responsibilities, a new school-running mechanism with clear rights and responsibilities and orderly operation will be established to inject innovative vitality into vocational education. Deep cooperation between schools and enterprises, the establishment of a community of shared future between schools and enterprises, the introduction of real products from enterprises, and the development of teaching resources ([1]). Give full play to the professional advantages and industry authority of industry organizations in key areas such as the formulation of professional standards, the construction of industry skill norms, the development of curriculum systems, skill level assessment and vocational qualification recognition. Guide industry organizations to build information platforms for school-enterprise cooperation, and through services such as analysis of industry human resource demands and prediction of skilled talent cultivation, facilitate the precise matching of educational supply and industrial demand, and promote the deep integration of industry and education in vocational education.

First, optimize the layout of key specialties based on pillar industries. Secondary and higher vocational colleges in Anyang should focus on the development needs of traditional pillar industries such as steel and building materials, food and textiles, medicine and healthcare within the region, and promote the connotative upgrading of related traditional specialties guided by industrial transformation and upgrading. Through deepening educational and teaching reforms and strengthening the construction of the practical teaching system, systematically improve the quality of talent cultivation, build a supply model of skilled talents that is compatible with the development of pillar industries, and ensure that the trainees have professional qualities and practical abilities that meet the demands of industrial upgrading.

Second, set up forward-looking majors for strategic emerging industries. In accordance with the development goals established in the “Notice on the Development Plan for Strategic Emerging Industries in Anyang City during the 14^th Five-Year Plan Period”, and in light of the differentiated development priorities of strategic emerging industries such as high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy vehicles, biomedicine, new materials, new energy, energy conservation and environmental protection, and electronic information within the region, secondary and higher vocational colleges in Anyang City need to plan their professional Settings in a forward-looking manner. By precisely aligning with the evolution of industrial technology and the characteristics of talent demand, a number of cutting-edge professional points will be laid out to form a professional system that resonates with the development of strategic emerging industries, providing sustainable skilled talent support for the high-quality development of the industry.

Third, aim at modern service industries and expand professional distribution points. Anyang city in 2024, the added value of the tertiary industry is 135.21 billion yuan, the third industry of GDP is 50.6% (https://www.huaon.com/channel/distdata/1065440.html). In this context, secondary and higher vocational colleges in Anyang should increase the layout of majors related to modern service industries such as e-commerce, modern logistics, sports and health care, and elderly care and medical care to meet the demand for talents in modern service industries. To support rural revitalization, increase the distribution of agriculture-related majors. The key to rural revitalization is industrial revitalization, mainly developing multiple industries centered on agriculture and extending up and down the agricultural industrial chain. The future agricultural industry will be a sector with a huge demand for talent. Secondary and higher vocational colleges should further increase the number of transfer points for related majors such as agriculture, agricultural services, and agricultural management.

First, change the cognitive bias of society towards skilled workers and enhance their social status. To effectively enhance the social status of skilled workers, systematic solutions should be constructed from multiple aspects. Specifically, the following three aspects can be advanced: First, improve the social public opinion guidance mechanism. Integrate resources such as radio, television, newspapers and the Internet to build a comprehensive and multi-level publicity network, focus on selecting and publicizing typical deeds of highly skilled talents, pay attention to “uncovering” and publicizing typical deeds of highly skilled talents, guide and cultivate the “craftsman spirit” ([4]), and promote the formation of a social consensus that “skilled talents are also talents”. Second, optimize the platform for showcasing the value of skilled talents. Organize city-wide vocational skills competitions to create professional and standardized competition display platforms. The competition content is closely aligned with actual working scenarios, and the assessment criteria are scientifically established to ensure the professionalism and credibility of the competition results. A combination of material rewards and spiritual incentives will be implemented for the winners of the competition. In addition to awarding cash prizes, they also enhance their social influence by granting honorary titles and media coverage, thereby fostering a cultural atmosphere of “craftsman spirit” and further guiding the social trend of respecting skilled talents. Third, innovate the career advancement and development system for skilled workers. Integrate the personal career development plans of skilled workers with the development of enterprises ([3]). Drawing on the successful practice of the “Chief worker system” of Guangsongting Iron and Steel Company, promote the innovative model of skilled worker position management in enterprises across the city. Establish a job promotion mechanism oriented towards professional ability and performance contribution, effectively connect skill levels with salary and benefits and career development paths, and provide institutional guarantees for the growth of skilled personnel. By improving the evaluation, incentive and promotion mechanisms for skilled workers, establishing fair and transparent channels for social mobility and promotion, achieving the synergy of the labor value and social status of skilled workers, and effectively enhancing the professional identity and social belonging of skilled workers.

The second is to change the mindset of enterprises in employing people. Enterprises should strive to break free from the shackles of traditional employment concepts and build a modern human resource management system centered on ability and contribution. Enterprises need to abandon the mindset of taking education as the sole orientation, break through institutional barriers such as identity and education, and establish a diversified talent evaluation mechanism based on job requirements and professional capabilities. By building vertically integrated and horizontally integrated career development channels, provide skilled talents with multi-dimensional promotion paths covering technology research and development, production management, skill inheritance, etc., to achieve a hierarchical leap from front-line technicians to technical experts and master craftsmen. Effectively boost the enthusiasm of skilled workers and their loyalty to enterprises.

The key to attracting and retaining skilled talents is to reform the human resource management system of enterprises in Anyang County. This can be done in three specific ways:

One is to raise the wages of skilled workers. Raise the income level of all skilled workers (wage income plus social security benefits). Break away from the traditional salary determination mechanism based on academic qualifications and establish a full-factor accounting mechanism for increasing the income of skilled workers, incorporating wage income and social security benefits into a systematic incentive framework. In light of the special circumstances of skilled workers in enterprises and the vocational skill levels and job grade systems of skilled workers in the unit, establish a skill assessment and incentive system that is in line with their job positions, performance contributions, and skill inheritance, ([5]) to tilt salary distribution towards highly skilled workers and form a distribution pattern of “more for those with higher skills and more for those who work harder”, Effectively enhance the economic returns and social value recognition of skilled workers. Innovative property rights incentive models for skilled workers can be adopted. Drawing on the experience of the employee stock ownership system implemented by Group A, explore the establishment of an equity incentive mechanism suitable for the characteristics of skilled enterprises. Through diversified forms such as job dividend rights, excess profit sharing, and virtual equity, skilled talents are incorporated into the enterprise property rights distribution system, transforming them from mere workers into a community of interests for enterprise development, creating a “golden handcuff” effect for the retention of skilled talents. Incorporate indicators such as technological innovation and production efficiency improvement of skilled workers into the basis of equity income distribution to ensure the scientific and sustainable nature of the incentive mechanism, effectively reduce the risk of talent loss, and provide stable talent support for technological innovation and industrial upgrading of enterprises.

Second, help skilled workers plan their career development and provide a platform for their career development. First, enterprises should provide career development arrangements for each skilled worker throughout the entire process, such as providing training for skilled workers and designating mentors when they first start working; Promotion channels and so on. Secondly, corresponding training should be provided based on the situation of skilled workers to help them grow. Finally, establish a job transfer mechanism. Skilled workers usually start working at 18 - 21 years old, which is relatively young. Coupled with the lack of good career planning in our country, some students find themselves not fond of their original major choices after graduation. Companies should provide them with a platform to continue choosing and help them find the most suitable and capable positions to work hard for the company.

Third, pay attention to the welfare of skilled workers. Companies should not only pay the five social insurances and one housing fund for their employees, but also purchase additional insurances for special positions. In terms of benefits, additional accommodation and meals should also be considered. Since it may be difficult for enterprises in each county of Anyang City to arrange accommodation for their employees independently at present, the government could organize enterprises in various regions to jointly arrange accommodation for employees, such as jointly building staff apartments and government-built low-rent housing, to solve the accommodation problem for employees. In addition to food and accommodation arrangements, for modern people, after-work life is very important, sometimes beyond the value of work itself. Therefore, companies should follow the example of those in economically developed areas and arrange a rich and varied after-work life for skilled workers.