Since the beginning of this year, Huai'an has precisely targeted the core needs of university students in employment and entrepreneurship, using "strengthening the foundation through skills training, improving quality through skills assessment, and enhancing effectiveness through entrepreneurship empowerment" as key levers to promote deep integration between talent development and industrial growth.

The city is promoting the shift from academic credentials to practical skills. Focusing closely on the development needs of industrial clusters, the city has innovatively implemented an integrated service model of "job demand + skills training + skills assessment + employment services." It has launched popular courses such as artificial intelligence, new energy vehicle assembly and commissioning, and e-commerce operations, and introduced flexible training forms including "evening skills classes," "weekend sessions," and "skills competitions." A variety of skills-training programs for students in vocational schools have been carried out, benefiting 23,500 participants. A skills-assessment system aligned with industrial needs has been established, completing 20,200 skill-talent evaluations, including 11,300 high-skilled and digital-skills personnel. Vocational institutions have added 12 new majors related to industries such as next-generation information technology and new energy, with the alignment rate between majors and the city's leading industries exceeding 72%.

The city is promoting entrepreneurship as a driver of employment. It has built a full-chain training system covering the entire process from entrepreneurial ideation to business-plan writing and market operations, providing training to 10,100 university students. Huai'an held the Huai'an selection round of the Nanjing Metropolitan Area Youth University Student Business Plan Competition, stimulating students' innovation and creativity. The city has precisely implemented policies such as one-time entrepreneurship subsidies, entrepreneurship-driven employment subsidies, and Fumin entrepreneurship guarantee loans to continuously lower the threshold for starting a business. Through implementing entrepreneurship policies, offering entrepreneurship training, and supporting entrepreneurship projects, more than 500 university students have been successfully helped to start their own businesses, creating over 1,600 jobs.