zhōng guó中国：jī qì rén机器人chū zū chē出租车shí dài时代，chū zū chē出租车sī jī司机rú hé如何zhuǎn xíng转型
In China, cities like Wuhan, Shenzhen, and Beijing are developing robot taxis.
The government promotes it as an important industry and is also considering the employment issues of taxi drivers in advance.
Cars no longer need drivers, but the system still requires people to manage it.
Many new positions have emerged, such as ground safety officers who handle emergencies within designated areas and communicate with relevant departments; testers who run test routes, record problems, and check software performance; and others who do remote monitoring and fleet dispatching.
Official information says these positions often prioritize hiring former taxi drivers, bus drivers, or ride-hailing drivers because they are familiar with road conditions and know how to serve passengers.
There may not be enough new positions, so the government has launched a vocational training plan from 2025 to 2027 to subsidize learning new skills and guide people toward jobs in logistics, charging station operations, fleet management, basic technical support, and also encourages entering domestic services and caregiving industries.
The human resources department also stated that in 2026 they will release a document specifically discussing the impact of artificial intelligence on employment, while expanding social security for flexible workers to provide better protection during the transition.