JD expands recruitment drive

Chinese e-commerce giant JD is ramping up efforts to offer job positions to fresh graduates and increasing the recruitment of full-time delivery riders as part of its broader push to expand employment and provide clear career development opportunities for talent.

Experts said the country's platform economy is playing an increasingly pivotal role in creating digitalized, personalized and professional new occupations, giving people from all walks of life diverse job options.

JD is expanding its campus recruitment scale this year, providing over 18,000 job positions for fresh graduates and raising the salary for staff from campus recruitment.

JDLogistics, the logistics arm of JD, said in February that it planned to hire 30,000 people in the first half of 2025, including frontline managers, management talent and couriers, as it is constantly expanding the scale of delivery stations and distribution networks. The recruitment covers nearly 100 types of positions.

The company said on June 1 that the number of its full-time food delivery riders exceeds 100,000 and it will step up recruitment efforts with plans to hire 150,000 full-time riders in the near future.

The company had previously announced that starting March 1, it will provide full-time food delivery riders with comprehensive social insurance and housing funds, while part-time riders will receive accident and health insurance. The move has made JD the first platform in China to offer such extensive insurance coverage for delivery personnel, underscoring its commitment to safeguarding the welfare of employees.

The company emphasized that it will never force its riders to "choose one out of two" platforms, encouraging them to accept orders freely from different platforms. It will also offer job opportunities to spouses of all food delivery riders.

It has tried many ways to increase the income for delivery riders, providing care and support to facilitate their career growth paths. For instance, full-time riders can enjoy a variety of benefits such as legal holidays, annual leave, physical examinations and paid sick leave.

JD has announced plans to recruit 100,000 cleaning workers across the nation, while it hopes to expand homemaking services to 100 cities this year and invest 1 billion yuan ($139.2 million) to enhance the income and cooperation experience, and strengthen the training of cleaning workers.

"The rise of e-commerce platforms has enabled innovative technologies to have an impact on a broader population at an unprecedented speed. The 'industry plus internet' model has created employment opportunities for tens of millions of people engaged in industry, agriculture and services," said Liu Xiaochun, an associate professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Against the backdrop of the United States' tariff increases, JD said it will help exporters sell products domestically, cope with fluctuations in the international market and stabilize the positions of their employees.

Zhu Keli, founding director of the China Institute of New Economy, said that platform enterprises have become the core engine driving China's economic transformation, with its resilience reflected in the highly efficient matching ability between supply and demand.