"Crayfish Farming" Goes Viral: AI Talent in Spring 2026 Sees Skyrocketing Salaries, Job Openings Increase 12-Fold, Average Monthly Salary Exceeds 60,000 Yuan

When “Did you raise a lobster today?” becomes a new secret code in the tech community, the value of AI (artificial intelligence) talent continues to rise.

On March 9, the Daily Economic News reporter learned from Maimai, a professional social networking platform, about the “Social Job Search — Insights into the Job Market for Mid-to-High-End Talent in January–February 2026” (hereinafter referred to as the Recruitment Insights). The data shows that in the first two months of 2026, the overall recruitment market has rebounded, with job postings in the new economy sector increasing by 12.77%. AI talent has become the main battleground for recruitment, with job postings skyrocketing 12 times, and an average monthly salary of 60,738 yuan, about 26% higher than the average monthly salary of 48,189 yuan in the new economy sector.

According to the data disclosed in the Recruitment Insights, AI positions rank highly on multiple spring recruitment lists. Large model algorithms top the list of hot jobs, with product managers and algorithm engineers also in high demand. In terms of salary, AI scientists/leaders earn an average monthly salary of 137,153 yuan, topping the high-paying list. Positions such as research scientists, large model algorithms, and AIGC algorithm engineers generally offer around 70,000 yuan per month. The Recruitment Insights predicts that as AI technology continues to penetrate various industries, 2026 may become a golden window for AI talent career development.

AI Talent Competition: Job Postings Surge 12 Times, Average Monthly Salary Exceeds 60,000 Yuan

Overall, at the beginning of this year, the AI recruitment market shows a trend of increasing demand, rising salaries, and decreasing job search pressure.

Data indicates that AI has become the most critical talent competition track for spring 2026. In January–February 2026, the number of AI positions on Maimai increased approximately 12 times year-over-year, far exceeding the overall growth in the new economy industry. AI positions accounted for 26.23% of all new economy jobs, up from 2.29% in the same period in 2025.

In terms of supply and demand, AI talent is clearly in short supply. The talent supply-demand ratio (note: talent supply-demand ratio = number of applications / number of new job postings) for AI positions is 0.97, while the overall ratio for the new economy industry is 1.79, indicating that competition for AI talent is significantly lower than for other roles. Salary levels are also highly competitive, with new AI job postings offering an average monthly salary of 60,738 yuan, 26% higher than the industry average.

Image source: “Social Job Search — Insights into the Job Market for Mid-to-High-End Talent in January–February 2026”

Notably, large model algorithms top the list of hot jobs, with product managers and algorithm engineers also in high demand. Salaries for roles such as research scientists, large model algorithms, and AIGC algorithm engineers generally hover around 70,000 yuan.

Regarding talent scarcity, high-performance computing engineers are the most sought-after, with a supply-demand ratio of only 0.15, meaning about 7 positions compete for 1 candidate. Positions in SLAM algorithms, control algorithms, navigation algorithms, and cloud computing also face significant talent gaps. From the distribution of urgent hiring by companies, ensuring business security and system stability has become a top priority.

Maimai founder and CEO Lin Fan publicly predicted at the end of 2025 that in the next three years, AI will reshape roles—everyone will be a programmer; in five years, AI will reshape workflows—everyone will be a manager; in ten years, AI will reshape organizations—everyone will be a CEO. In the AI era, hiring standards will also change: those who were previously selected for their high ability ceiling will be replaced by those with a high ability floor.

Over 30% of New Job Postings Require AI Skills: Tencent, ByteDance, JD.com Become Hot Search Terms for Job Seekers

From the workplace environment perspective, candidates with both AI skills and some work experience are more favored by companies. The Recruitment Insights show that among new job postings, 73.34% require more than 3 years of experience. Compared to the same period in 2025, the number of positions requiring 3–5 years of experience increased by 19%, making this the core experience range for new jobs, reflecting companies’ preference for “ready-to-start” talent.

In contrast, entry-level positions continue to tighten. The Recruitment Insights reveal that in new job postings, the number of roles requiring less than 1 year of experience decreased by about 20% (limited to social recruitment roles), indicating a clear reduction in demand for fresh graduates. In January–February 2026, roles requiring less than 1 year of experience accounted for only 1.23%, those requiring 1–3 years for 8.26%, and roles with no experience requirement made up 17.17%.

Meanwhile, companies’ requirements for employees’ AI skills are shifting from “nice to have” to “must-have.” The Recruitment Insights show that in January–February 2026, the proportion of new job descriptions explicitly mentioning keywords like “AI” and “large model” increased significantly, rising from 22.35% last year to 34.39% of all new economy jobs.

Image source: “Social Job Search — Insights into the Job Market for Mid-to-High-End Talent in January–February 2026”

Surveying current employees, nearly 80% of respondents say their companies have already set AI skill requirements. Among them, 43.82% report that their companies promote AI learning verbally or in writing, but without formal assessments; 35.96% have explicit requirements with corresponding evaluation or training mechanisms. Only 20.22% of companies do not mention AI skills at all. This indicates that AI skills are gradually shifting from a “bonus” to a mandatory work skill.

Notably, the Recruitment Insights data shows that in the second half of 2025, 54% of Maimai users searched for company information before accepting an offer. The most searched terms include major tech companies like Tencent, ByteDance, JD.com, Xiaomi, Meituan, Kuaishou, Huawei, Baidu, Pinduoduo, among others.

Additionally, searches for AI talent tend to focus on technical and AI-related fields, with keywords like DeepSeek, large model, Seed, and others appearing more frequently. Searches also include tech giants with deep AI investments such as Microsoft, Quark, and Ant Group. Non-AI talent searches are more oriented toward job information and popular companies, with “internal referral” topping the search list, along with leading companies across various sectors like BYD, DJI, Mihayou, Zhiqu, Dewu, and NetEase.

Maimai’s Chief Human Resources Officer and Vice President of Innovation Business Zhou Weiwei stated in the “2025 Talent Migration Report” at the end of last year that the organizational structure in the AI era is undergoing significant transformation. Operational efficiency and health metrics need to be redefined, and organizations designed as AI Native (with AI at their core) require HR professionals to be proactive, embrace change, and adopt advanced AI tools.