“There is a Job Prepared for Me Here”: Understanding How Short Video and Live-streaming Platforms Empower Ageing Job Seekers in China

Title of the Paper

“There is a Job Prepared for Me Here”: Understanding How Short Video and Live-streaming Platforms Empower Ageing Job Seekers in China

Paper Information

• Research Domain: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Socio-technical Design, Aging and Employment
• Keywords: Short video, live-streaming platforms, job seeking, aging population, social media, employment, digital inclusion, China, digital literacy, user experience

Research Background and Issues

• What problems or challenges did the authors identify?

  1. Global unemployment rates remain high, with aging job seekers facing greater employment challenges, particularly in developing countries.
  2. In China, job seekers aged 45 and above are significantly affected by age discrimination, with lower success rates in job applications and fewer employment opportunities compared to younger candidates.
  3. Specialized online job-seeking platforms are not user-friendly for aging job seekers, as they often lack digital literacy and these platforms primarily target younger, tech-savvy users.
  4. Although short video and live-streaming social media platforms have recently been used for recruiting aging job seekers, there is a lack of research on this topic, particularly regarding the real experiences of aging job seekers using these platforms.

• Why is this issue important? Global aging is accelerating, with the elderly population expected to reach 2.1 billion by 2050. Aging job seekers, as a significantly disadvantaged group, urgently require more inclusive and user-friendly digital platforms from an HCI perspective.

• Research Motivation and Related Work

  1. Previous HCI research has primarily focused on issues such as reduced social connections and physical decline in aging populations, often overlooking the critical issue of employment difficulties.
  2. Social media's non-traditional recruitment functions are increasingly showing potential for aging job seekers, especially in short video and live-streaming contexts.
  3. This study focuses on the technological adaptation in the non-Western context of China, examining how short video and live-streaming platforms can safeguard the welfare and rights of aging job seekers and alleviate their disadvantaged position.

Solutions

• What methods or solutions did the authors propose?

  1. Conducting semi-structured interviews and observational studies to analyze the practices and experiences of aging job seekers on short video and live-streaming platforms.
  2. Specifically formulating research questions (RQs):
     • RQ1: What are the content and formats of recruitment short videos and live-streaming channels?
     • RQ2: How do aging job seekers utilize short video and live-streaming platforms for job seeking?
     • RQ3: How do short video and live-streaming platforms empower aging job seekers?
  3. Data collection included observing 100 recruitment short videos and live-streaming channels on TikTok (Douyin) and KUAISHOU, and conducting interviews with 14 aging job seekers.

• What are the innovative aspects of this solution?

  • Addressing the research gap regarding aging job seekers' use of short video and live-streaming platforms within China's socio-technical context.
  • Providing examples of bridging the digital literacy gap, revealing how short video platforms reduce the difficulty of job seeking for aging populations.
  • Exploring the economic and social empowerment of disadvantaged groups through new interactive entertainment platforms.

• What are the implementation steps and key techniques used?

  1. Observation of short video and live-streaming recruitment content: analyzing job information, salary and benefits, interactive comments, and recruitment models in short videos and live streams.
  2. Semi-structured interviews: exploring the motivations, practices, and perceptions of aging job seekers regarding these platforms.
  3. Qualitative data analysis: employing open coding and thematic analysis to uncover deeper meanings in the data.
  4. Data integration and interpretation: synthesizing video screenshots and interview records for comprehensive analysis.

Research Findings

• What specific findings were achieved?

  • Characteristics of short video and live-streaming content:
    • Content includes salary and benefits, workplace environment displays, and job requirements.
    • Recruitment presentation formats are diverse: explanations in front of the camera, on-site demonstrations, video chats, etc.
  • Behaviors and habits of aging job seekers:
    • Platform auto-recommendation features are the primary way aging job seekers access recruitment information.
    • Job seekers interact with recruiters via comments or voice chats to obtain more information.
    • KUAISHOU’s quick job-seeking plugins (e.g., KUAIZHAOGONG) effectively reduce the difficulty of job applications.
  • Platform empowerment for aging job seekers:
    • Providing digital literacy-friendly job-seeking entry points, significantly reducing the learning curve.
    • Enhancing the authenticity and trustworthiness of job information, preventing recruitment fraud.
    • Improving working conditions for aging job seekers, particularly in terms of salary guarantees and employee rights.

• What advantages does it have compared to existing solutions?

  • Short video and live-streaming platforms not only lower the learning barriers of traditional online job-seeking platforms but also enhance user experience through entertainment interaction and real-time information delivery mechanisms.
  • These platforms offer more employment options that accommodate physical conditions and family responsibilities, such as part-time work, handicrafts, and remote jobs.

• What were the experimental or evaluation results?

  • Aging job seekers exhibited significantly higher trust in short video and live-streaming platforms compared to professional job-seeking platforms.
  • Platform empowerment enabled more aging job seekers to secure positions in large companies or fairer working environments.

• Limitations and Future Directions

  1. Limitations:
     • Small sample size (only 14 respondents), which may limit the comprehensiveness of the data.
     • Focused primarily on blue-collar jobs, without fully covering mid-to-high-end industries.
  2. Future Directions:
     • Expand the sample size and diversify the industry backgrounds to validate the generalizability of the findings.
     • Explore how short video recruitment platforms can promote the long-term career development of aging job seekers.

Conclusion and Implications

• Short video and live-streaming platforms demonstrate significant potential in helping aging job seekers overcome digital divides and structural social inequalities.
• Policymakers, platform developers, and researchers can collaborate to optimize these platforms, designing more inclusive and sustainable job-seeking support systems for aging populations.