Research on the Evaluation and Influencing Factors of China’s Provincial Employment Quality Based on Principal Tensor Analysis

The research on the quality of employment in China holds immense significance for attaining high-quality employment development. Firstly, enhancing the quality of employment facilitates the optimization of labor resource allocation and enhances economic efficiency. Secondly, high-quality employment serves as a fundamental pillar for social equity and stability. Lastly, continual enhancement of employment quality caters to the requirements of social development and plays a crucial role in promoting economic transformation and achieving sustainable development. However, what is the current situation of employment quality in China? How can we scientifically measure employment quality? What are the key factors for the development of employment quality? This study aimed to use spatiotemporal tensor data to measure the level of employment quality in China’s provinces and analyzed the magnitude and direction of its influencing factors in the spatiotemporal dimension. Taking thirty provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government in China from 2011 to 2020 as the research objects, the employment quality evaluation system was constructed from six dimensions: employment environment, employment status, employability, labor remuneration, social security, and labor relations. The employment quality index data were expressed in the form of three-order, high-dimensional tensor spatiotemporal data, and the employment quality of China’s provinces was measured from the spatiotemporal perspective by using principal tensor analysis. Then, the visual analysis of the development and change process of employment quality was carried out. The spatial autocorrelation analysis of employment quality was carried out, and the time–space dual-fixed-effect model of the spatial Durbin model was selected to analyze the direction and magnitude of the influence factors of employment quality on the selected and neighboring provinces. The research showed that: (1) The overall level of employment quality in China was not high, the employment quality varied greatly among provinces, and the employment quality development gap among provinces showed a trend of widening. (2) The development of employment quality in western China was relatively fast, while the development of employment quality in central China showed insufficient stamina. (3) Sichuan Province had a strong radiation effect on the development of employment quality in neighboring provinces, and Beijing and Tianjin had a strong siphon effect on the development of employment quality in neighboring provinces. (4) The level of industrialization and informatization promoted the development of employment quality in China’s provinces, while the industrial structure had a significant negative effect on the development of employment quality. According to the research findings, the following policy recommendations are proposed: (1) strengthen inter-provincial cooperation and exchange, (2) emphasize support for the central and western regions, (3) fully leverage the radiation effect of Sichuan while optimizing the siphon effect of Beijing and Tianjin, and (4) enhance industrialization and information technology levels, as well as adjust the industrial structure.