{
  "id": 9572439,
  "title": "Behind the layoffs in China’s solar industry",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/24/behind-the-layoffs-in-chinas-solar-industry",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-24T14:47:09.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dialogue Earth",
    "slug": "dialogue-earth",
    "url": "https://dialogue.earth/en/energy/behind-the-layoffs-in-chinas-solar-industry/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In July, China's solar power generation capacity surpassed coal for the first time. However, this milestone was accompanied by widespread financial losses, layoffs, and controversy over intense competition within the industry. Interim reports from 2026 indicate a significant contraction in revenue across the solar photovoltaic (PV) sector during the first half of the year. Over 70% of leading companies reported losses in 2025, and more than 50 firms declared bankruptcy. Between 2024 and 2025, China's top 110 listed PV firms laid off 222,800 employees, excluding many small- and medium-sized firms. The workforce reductions followed two years of net losses for Chinese solar firms, driven by an industry-wide supply glut that caused module spot prices to drop by over 50%.\n\nThe layoffs reveal how China's solar industry is evolving through consolidation, mergers, bankruptcies, and capacity retirements, as well as automation of production. This shift aims to reduce production and labor costs, which is essential for survival in an oversaturated market. China's PV industry employed 4.6 million people in 2023, but two years of losses saw job cuts in 2024 and 2025. Annual reports for the top 110 listed firms identified 68,255 job cuts in 2025 alone.\n\nIn response to these challenges, solar companies are adopting various tactics to curb production and optimize labor costs. For instance, some factories in Anhui implemented five-month holidays and offered severance packages for voluntary resignations. Forced production pauses and wage cuts were also common in 2024, with more than half of firms reducing wages across all levels in 2025. These measures are intended to encourage voluntary resignations and address the de facto layoffs that may total 200,000 job cuts in 2024.\n\nChina's solar industry has faced oversupply crises before. During the 2008 financial crisis, local governments expanded subsidies for solar firms, leading to a surplus of exported panels. In 2012, the EU and US imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese solar products, reducing demand due to increased supply. In 2018, the central government ended subsidies for new solar projects, causing demand for solar modules to plummet overnight. Despite this, new policies promoting solar over coal power sparked a boom in 2019.\n\nIn 2020, China's solar industry entered another boom following Xi Jinping's announcement of national goals to peak carbon emissions and reduce them to zero, targeting 1,200 GW of installed solar and wind capacity by 2030. This spurred the creation of 600,000 registered PV firms, with 22.4% founded in 2022 alone. However, by 2024, solar factories operating at 54% capacity produced more modules than the market could absorb, causing module prices to fall to 1 yuan (about USD 0.14) per watt, below production costs. This necessitated the current cuts.\n\nWhile Chinese solar firms have encountered similar challenges before, the current losses far exceed any previous cycle. Labour cost reductions are becoming a survival tactic, and restructuring is necessary to cut the excess accumulated during years of unchecked expansion. Automation is also reshaping the industry, with automated production lines, including fully automated \"lights-out factories,\" becoming increasingly prevalent. As a result, manufacturing jobs are unlikely to return, and the industry will shift towards high-tech, less labor-intensive operations.",
  "summary": "Companies are consolidating, automating production and shifting workers away from factory floors toward sales and advanced products The post Behind the layoffs in China’s solar industry appeared first on Dialogue Earth .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}