Does the digital economy boost enterprise labor demand? An empirical analysis of typical listed firms in China

With the rapid development and widespread application of digital technology, the digital economy has become an important engine of global economic growth, profoundly reshaping the demand of the labor market. This study integrates the digital economic development and enterprise labor demand into a unified analytical framework. Using data from 1,496 non-financial listed companies across 31 provinces in China from 2016 to 2022. The entropy-weighted TOPSIS method assesses digital economy advancement, while fixed effects and spatial Durbin models analyze its impact on labor demand. The study found that: (1)in terms of total volume, there is a U-shaped relationship between the digital economy and corporate labor demand, with initial suppression followed by promotion; (2)in terms of structure, there is a significant increase in demand for production and R&D positions but a decrease in the proportion of financial positions, while increasing the number of high-skilled and low-skilled jobs, the growth of medium-skilled jobs remains less noticeable; (3)heterogeneity analysis shows that manufacturing is more inclined to increase R&D and administrative positions than productive services, but has weaker demand for sales and financial positions; (4)spatial spillover effects indicate that while the digital economy promotes local employment, it suppresses demand in other regions. Therefore, by deriving a novel labor demand function that incorporates digital economy factors, this study theoretically explains and empirically validates the U-shaped relationship and skill structural shifts. These findings provide policymakers with crucial insights to anticipate fluctuations in enterprise hiring demand and formulate targeted strategies to manage the spatial and skill-based allocation of labor opportunities.