The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a historic economic downturn leading to record high levels of poverty and unemployment and an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. The International Monetary Fund expects the global recession to be as severe as that of 2009 and possibly even worse. The International Labor Organization estimates that as unemployment continues to rise, nearly half of the global workforce will be at risk of losing its livelihood. The question of how to create more employment opportunities and increase income has become a pressing issue of great concern to all.

Newborn Town is a Chinese social media company that has been deeply involved in the global market for 10 years, with business in more than 200 countries and regions. The company actively fulfills its corporate social responsibility both domestically and overseas. While developing its business, it focuses on employee development, cares for vulnerable groups, and adheres to the path of global sustainable development. Newborn Town has made many efforts to increase employment and income levels.

The company can boast more than 1.3 billion product users, with hundreds of thousands of full- or part-time content creators around the world attracted to its social media products. While building up a presence on the social platform, users also earn income and improve their living standards in the midst of the global pandemic. Newborn Town also provides various types of support for content creators. In Japan, MICO’s Star Project series has been held for a number of years, with the winning creators mentored by senior musicians such as YANAGIMAN, Yuki Kishida, and Akihito Tokunaga and given the opportunity to create custom singles and release albums. This has attracted many outstanding creators interested in pursuing a career in music to the platform, where they can showcase their talents through social platforms and embark on a career in music. In addition, Newborn Town has established multiple operation centers in different regions of the world to recruit local staff, thus creating additional employment along the way. In the process, it sees to long-term development by providing systematic training and improving the existing welfare system. (The case won the ESG Care Prize at InnoESG Prize 2021 jointly organized by the SocietyNext Foundation and the UNESCO Hong Kong Association Center for Peace, and has been provided and recommended by Newborn Town)