Paying to Look Employed: A New Trend in China
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In many cultures, losing a job is painful. In China, it can feel like a deep personal failure. Family expectations are high, especially for young people with degrees.
Parents often live far away and have invested years of sacrifice in their children’s education.
They expect their children to succeed and later support them. In a time of mass youth unemployment, this pressure has given rise to a strange and very modern solution—fake jobs.
Renting a Career
In Chongqing, a sprawling city on the Yangtze River, there is an office where nothing works. Computers are unplugged.
Printers are for show. Yet every morning, people arrive in business clothes and sit at desks. They pay for the privilege, writes Wyborcza.
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For about four to seven dollars a day, unemployed young adults rent the illusion of having a career.
These “offices” are part of a growing industry. The idea is simple. You come in, sit at a desk, and look busy. You can film yourself working and send the video to your family. In a society where saving face is priceless, this service offers dignity.
A “Social Experiment”?
Youth unemployment in China is a serious problem. Official numbers show over 17% of people aged 16 to 24 without work, not counting students.
Many of them are graduates from the surge in universities opened in the late 1990s. Jobs are scarce, and competition is fierce.
Fake job services are advertised on social media platforms like Xiaohongshu, the Chinese equivalent of Instagram.
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Posts about them have gathered millions of views. Similar setups now exist in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and other cities.
Some clients have practical reasons beyond appearances. One young woman sent photos of herself in a mock office to her former university.
Without proof of an internship, she would not get her diploma. Others use the time to work on personal projects while maintaining the image of employment.
Owners of these businesses often have their own history of unemployment. One operator calls it a “social experiment.”
Whether the trend will last is uncertain. But for now, in a difficult job market, many are willing to pay for a desk, a chair, and the comfort of looking like they belong.