Complex and grim

On Saturday, Premier Li Keqiang called a national meeting on stabilizing employment.

Li kicked things off with a dire warning about jobs (Gov.cn):

• “Current employment trends are complex and grim."

ICYMI: COVID lockdowns have shuttered most businesses in a growing list of major Chinese cities, throttling major employers like big manufactures and service businesses.

Li told local governments to do more to protect employment:

• "All localities...need to prioritize policy support for employment in order to protect jobs and ensure economic stability."

Topping Li's priority list: More support for small and medium-sized businesses, the self-employed, recent graduates, migrant workers, and low-income populations.

Li got specific about what localities need to do, including:

• Support work resumption
• Offer tax cuts and rebates
• Expand vocational skills training
• Encourage entrepreneurship and innovation
• Step up employment services to help people find jobs

But it was Vice Premier Hu Chunhua's warning that caught our eye:

• "We must promptly identify emerging trends and issues, and effectively prevent or resolve labor relations-related risks and dangers."

Translation: Mass layoffs or unpaid wages could trigger worker protests.

Get this: Hu called to step up government collection of employment data in order to head off risks.

Get smart: Tax breaks don't help much when your business is shut – small businesses fear a bloodbath in the coming months.

Get smarter: If hundreds of thousands of workers in a locked down megacity all lose their jobs at the same time, the Party fears serious social unrest.