Employment Effects of Digital Economy: The Role of SMEs in Bridging Skill Mismatch

Abstract

The digital economy has become the core driving force behind the transformation of China’s job market. As the mainstay of employment absorption, the digital transformation process of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) directly affects the growth of total employment and the optimization of employment structure. Based on data from authoritative institutions such as the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the China Academy of Industrial Internet, and the Tencent Research Institute, combined with academic research results, this paper systematically analyzes the current situation and mechanism of the digital economy’s impact on SME employment, examines the prominent problems encountered in the transformation process, and puts forward targeted policy recommendations. The research finds that the digital economy has a significant employment creation effect on SMEs: for every 1% increase in digitalization level, employment demand rises by 13.7%. In the second quarter of 2025, the total number of industrial digitalization-related jobs nationwide reached 60.009 million, with SMEs and individual households contributing over 80%. However, only 3.2% of SMEs have achieved a high level of digitalization at present, 68% of enterprises face a shortage of digital talents, and structural contradictions such as the digital divide and skill mismatch are prominent. In the future, it is necessary to fully release the employment empowerment potential of the digital economy by improving the transformation support system and strengthening digital skills training.