The Organization Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial Social Work Department, and five other departments recently jointly issued the "Measures on Strengthening the Construction of the Community Worker Team" (hereinafter referred to as "Measures"). The Measures propose 20 specific measures from six aspects, including improving the professional system, strengthening personnel allocation, enhancing quality and capabilities, perfecting management and evaluation, strengthening incentive and security measures, and reinforcing organizational promotion. This is the first specialized policy document at the provincial level in Jiangsu regarding the construction of the community worker team, focusing on improving the institutional mechanisms for "selection, cultivation, management, utilization, and exit," and promoting the professional, specialized, and standardized development of the community worker team.

Strengthening the construction of community worker teams in the new era, building a community worker team that is politically steadfast, well-qualified, dedicated, structurally sound, and highly regarded by the public, holds significant importance for enhancing the modernization of grassroots governance systems and capabilities. The "Regulations" define the professional scope of community workers, who primarily include full-time members of community party organizations and residents' committees, those hired through community worker exams organized by county-level and above authorities, as well as other full-time community workers of working age recognized by county-level party organizations and social work departments.

Jiangsu has established a unified "three positions and eighteen levels" system for job grades across the province. Community worker positions are categorized into three types: head positions, deputy positions, and general staff. General staff are at level one, deputy positions at level one, and head positions at level one. "Standardizing the setting of job grades helps regions scientifically formulate job positions and corresponding grades for community workers, as well as the corresponding salary system. Job grades will be adjusted accordingly with promotions, increases in community work experience, and improvements in professional skills, further enhancing the professional development system for community workers and facilitating the flow of talent." The head of the Basic-level Governance and Community Management Division of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee for Social Work stated that Jiangsu will also establish a mutual recognition mechanism for intra-provincial mobility, explore professional technical qualification evaluation mechanisms, and construct professional development paths that align with the characteristics of community workers, allowing them to see a promising career outlook, enhance professional identity, and solidify their career choices.

"Article" clearly states that community workers should be equipped according to the standard of one person per ten thousand urban permanent residents. The total quantity is coordinated by the municipal level, the staffing is managed by the county level, the management is centralized by the sub-district (township) level, and the usage is coordinated by the community level. By the end of next year, all counties should meet the standard as a whole. The future goal is for the proportion of people holding social worker professional qualification certificates to reach over 100%, the proportion of people with a college degree or above to reach over 100%, and to cultivate no less than 100 provincial-level leading talents in community governance.

"Article" strictly regulates entry conditions, clearly defining the political standards, purpose concepts, professional ethics, and professional abilities that community workers should possess. In addition to having a college degree or above, new hires must also meet specific requirements, such as obtaining the corresponding professional qualification certificate within the year after meeting the registration conditions for the social worker professional qualification examination. In terms of standardized selection and recruitment, it is stipulated that full-time members of the community "two committees" are generated according to relevant regulations, with priority given to selecting from outstanding full-time community staff; full-time community staff follow the principle of "every entry must be tested," with unified public recruitment organized by the county or city level, and no other departments (units) are allowed to set up special positions or organize recruitment in the community.

In optimizing team structure, efforts are being made to actively recruit outstanding talents such as university graduates, retired military personnel, and social work professionals. Existing full-time grid members working in communities who meet the conditions can be preferentially employed as full-time community staff under the provisions of open recruitment. No new full-time grid members will be recruited by local authorities. "In the future, our province will gradually work towards integrating full-time grid members into the community worker team for unified management, strengthening the work of visiting and contacting residents, and enhancing the ability to cultivate and integrate resources as well as the level of service for the people," explained the head of the Basic Governance and Community Management Division of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee for Social Work.

At the same time, Jiangsu has streamlined the exit mechanism, specifying situations such as "being unqualified in consecutive two-year evaluations or barely qualified in consecutive three-year evaluations," "causing significant losses to the interests of residents or causing severe adverse impacts due to dereliction of duty," among others. He Yu, Director of the Joint Prosperity Research Center at the Jiangsu Academy of Social Sciences, stated that the regulations have specifically addressed the issue of merit-based advancement and demotion, sending a clear signal of "promoting the capable" and "replacing the incompetent," which will fully motivate community workers to stay rooted in grassroots positions and serve residents with greater enthusiasm and initiative. To further enhance the professionalism and specialization of community workers, it is necessary to continuously infuse young talents into the community worker ranks, quickly altering the current situation of an aging workforce and low professional standards.

To strengthen service awareness and boost the spirit of entrepreneurship, Jiangsu will unify the evaluation of community workers, with county-level authorities formulating annual assessment plans and street (township) offices organizing and implementing them uniformly, aiming to address issues such as "same treatment for long-term and short-term work, same treatment for more and less work." At the same time, strict management of temporary transfers will be enforced; if a street (township) office needs to temporarily transfer a community worker, it must be approved by the county-level party's social work department, and the duration cannot exceed one month. "Street (township) offices can organize assessments uniformly on an annual or quarterly basis, rewarding the excellent and penalizing the poor, adjusting ranks, and renewing or terminating contracts based on the assessment results. No other department (unit) is allowed to directly evaluate community workers." said a responsible person from the Basic-level Governance and Community Management Division of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee's Social Work Department.

For community workers, strict management is essential, but so is deep care. The "guidelines" propose the use of the fault tolerance and error correction mechanism, which allows for tolerance and correction of work errors and procedural flaws in emergency response and other areas, as stipulated. For issues that are found to be unfounded or where the person has been wrongly accused, procedures for clarification, positive reinforcement, and follow-up conversations should be followed. For community workers who have made outstanding contributions, they should be commended and rewarded according to national and provincial regulations, allowing community workers to act with confidence and competence.

Jiangsu will improve its hierarchical training mechanism, which includes provincial demonstration training, municipal key training, county-level backbone training, and street (township) full-scale training. For newly hired community workers, a "mentorship" training mechanism will be established, constructing a talent cultivation framework of "leading geese, synchronized formation, and fledgling growth." Starting this year, the Provincial Social Work Department will organize a demonstration training program for rural and urban community workers annually, setting an example for training and rotation at all levels. Jiangsu will also promote the "generalist social worker" service model, ensuring that each community has more than one "generalist social worker."

"Article" clearly states that the average salary of community workers should, in principle, not be lower than the average wage level of local full-scope urban unit employees in the previous year. It is generally required that the street (township) authorities sign labor contracts with community workers in accordance with the law, fully implementing the benefits of "five insurances and one fund". Efforts are being explored to advance the enterprise annuity system for community workers, effectively addressing the issue of post-retirement treatment. Measures such as establishing a care fund for community workers are being considered, which would provide material and spiritual incentives to outstanding community workers who have served for a certain number of years, performed excellently, and achieved significant results. This would promote the implementation of benefits such as paid annual leave, annual health check-ups, and regular recuperation leave.

To smooth the promotion channels, Jiangsu will increase the recruitment of civil servants and public institution staff from outstanding community workers, promoting the principle of setting aside a certain number of positions annually and ensuring a certain proportion across each term. Community party secretaries who have worked continuously in the community for years, have served as community party secretaries for a full term, and have demonstrated outstanding performance may be preferentially appointed as public institution staff according to regulations. Those particularly outstanding may further be selected into the leadership of sub-districts (townships) through electoral transitions. Professor Yan Xinming from the School of Government at Nanjing University believes that strengthening incentives and safeguards, further increasing care for community workers, and providing political concern, life care, and work support are practical measures based on the experience of community worker team building in Jiangsu, ensuring that community workers stay and have a promising future.