The improvement of the quality of employment in the digital economy is crucial to the realization of the goal of stable employment and common prosperity. The relationship between industrial upgrading and the digital economy and employment quality is analyzed by using 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities panel data from 2011 to 2020.The study found that the digital economy significantly improves the quality of employment, while industrial upgrading has a significant intermediary effect on the development of the digital economy and the quality of employment, that is, the digital economy can improve the quality of employment through the industrial upgrading path. Therefore, in order to improve the current quality of employment in the country, it is necessary to promote industrial upgrading and increase the integration of digital technology with the real economy.