Do not treat "high wages online" as a shortage of workers; check the local catalogue of occupations in short supply and the subsidy catalogue

How much training subsidy a locality gives for a trade is set by how urgently it is needed and by training cost, so the subsidy amount itself shows whether workers are short locally. Online claims of "monthly pay for a certain trade" are mostly posted rates on hiring platforms or personal self-reports. What you see is mostly people who already earned money, and hours, commuting, occupational disease, and busy versus slack seasons are not counted in.

Cost

No money. Look up two local documents.

Benefit

The subsidy amount itself is the official pricing of "which trades are short of people." Policy requires "a differentiated subsidy mechanism set by how urgently an occupation (trade) is needed, training cost, and similar factors," and localities set their own range of subsidized vocational skill training programs from that. So how much the subsidy for the same trade differs across cities directly reflects how short that trade is locally

Notes

Official wages by occupation go only to five broad post categories, with no specific trades. National Bureau of Statistics figures for 2025 put the average annual wage at enterprises above designated size at about 106000 yuan (10.6万; exact value 106080 yuan). Mid-level and above managers about 210000 yuan (21万; exact value 210016 yuan), professional and technical staff about 155000 yuan (15.5万; exact value 155491 yuan), clerical staff 94936 yuan, production and manufacturing staff 80739 yuan, and social production and personal-service staff 79857 yuan. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security "100 occupations most short of workers" ranking can be checked on China Employment Network; the latest edition stops at the fourth quarter of 2022. That ranking is built from hiring and job-seeker data from public employment service agencies in 102 cities nationwide. Online claims of "monthly pay for a certain trade" almost all come from posted rates on hiring platforms or personal self-reports. What reaches you is mostly the people who earned money, and none of them count hours, commuting, occupational disease, or busy versus slack seasons. For real demand, check the subsidy catalogue on the local human resources and social security bureau site, then the job-demand ranking from public employment service agencies. Finally ask people already on the job at actual sites, factories, and shops

Sources · 3

1. 国务院就业促进和劳动保护工作领导小组 (2025). 关于开展大规模职业技能提升培训行动的指导意见. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202507/content_70322…
2. 国家统计局 (2026). 2025年城镇单位就业人员年平均工资情况：「规模以上企业就业人员年平均工资为106080元，其中，中层及以上管理人员210016元，专业技术人员155491元，办事人员和有关人员94936元，社会生产服务和生活服务人员79857元，生产制造及有关人员80739元」. stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfb/202605/t20260515_1963707…
3. 人力资源社会保障部就业培训技术指导中心 (2023). 2022年第四季度全国招聘大于求职「最缺工」的100个职业排行（中国就业网）. chinajob.mohrss.gov.cn/c/2023-01-30/367442.shtml