China's job crisis spurs bizarre trend: Young Chinese pay companies just to pretend they have a job — here's why

Time of India

16 hours ago

Pretend to work trend China
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In an office space in Dongguan, China, 30-year-old Shui Zhou sits at a desk from about 9am to 11pm, sipping tea, chatting with 'colleagues,' and sometimes even staying late after the manager leaves, but here's the twist, he doesn't actually work there, according to a report. In fact, he pays the company around 30 yuan ($4.20) a day for the privilege of pretending he does, as per a BBC report.
Paying to 'Work': New Reality for China's Jobless Youth
This is not a joke, this is the growing reality for many young Chinese adults struggling to find real jobs in a shrinking employment market, according to the report. Currently, the Chinese youth unemployment is at a stubbornly high even, at over 14%, reported BBC.
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What Is a Pretend Office?
Shui is part of an emerging, strange-but-true trend in China, where unemployed youth paying to pretend to 'work' in fake offices, according to the report. However, these are real spaces with desks, computers, meeting rooms, Wi-Fi, even snacks and lunch, but with no actual employer, job responsibilities, or salaries, as reported by BBC.
Instead, attendees bring their laptops, apply for jobs, launch side hustles, or just soak in the structure of a daily routine, according to the report. Some are simply there to restore a sense of purpose, others use the office setting to deceive their families or even their universities, as per the BBC report.
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Zhou, whose food business venture failed last year, said that, "I feel very happy. It's like we're working together as a grou," as quoted in the report.
Since April, Zhou has been showing up to the mock-up office run by a business called Pretend To Work Company, in Dongguan, one of many similar operations coming up in major cities like Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Wuhan, as per the BBC report. The goal is to escape the isolation of joblessness and cling to the dignity of a routine, according to the report.
It may sound absurd to many people, but has given mental statsifaction for some, like Zhou even sent photos of the office to his parents, and he says they feel much more at ease about his lack of employment, as reported by BBC.
He shared that the other people who come there are now like friends, and said that when peple are busy, they job hunting, they work hard, but when they have free time they chat, joke about, play games, and they often have dinner together after work, as reported by BBC. Zhou even said that he likes this team building, and that he is much happier than before he joined, according to the report.
This trend reflects a deeper crisis, the gap between a highly educated young population and a stagnating economy is growing and so is the sense of frustration, as per the report.
Dr Christian Yao, a senior lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington's School of Management in New Zealand and an expert on the Chinese economy, explained that, "The phenomenon of pretending to work is now very common," adding, "Due to economic transformation and the mismatch between education and the job market, young people need these places to think about their next steps, or to do odd jobs as a transition," as quoted by BBC. Yao highlighted that, "Pretend office companies are one of the transitional solutions," as quoted in the report.
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When 'Fake It Till You Make It' Becomes a Strategy
For 23-year-old Xiaowen Tang in Shanghai, the pretend work space was a lifeline, not just emotionally, but academically, as her university requires proof of employment or internship within a year of graduation to issue a diploma, according to the BBC report.
So she rented a desk for a month, snapped some photos, and sent them to her university as 'proof,' but the reality was that she paid the daily fee, and sat in the office writing online novels to earn some pocket money, as per the report. Tang said that, "If you're going to fake it, just fake it to the end," as quoted by BBC.
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Meet the Man Selling 'Dignity'
The Pretend To Work Company's founder, who goes by the pseudonym Feiyu, a former retail entrepreneur whose business folded during the pandemic, he created the office space in April not just as a business, but as what he calls 'a social experiment,' as quoted in the report.
Feiyu said that, "What I'm selling isn't a workstation, but the dignity of not being a useless person," as quoted by BBC.
He explained that, "It uses lies to maintain respectability, but it allows some people to find the truth," adding, "If we only help users prolong their acting skills we are complicit in a gentle deception," as quoted in the report.
The founder also said that, "Only by helping them transform their fake workplace into a real starting point can this social experiment truly live up to its promise," as quoted in the BBC report.
About 40% of his customers are recent graduates faking internship documentation, the other 60% are freelancers or digital nomads, many working on ecommerce or writing gigs, with the average age being around 30, and the youngest being 25, according to the report.
Officially, these workers are called as "flexible employment professionals", a grouping that also includes ride-hailing and trucker drivers, as reported by BBC.
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FAQs
Why would anyone pay to pretend to have a job?
Because it gives structure, purpose, and dignity in a time when real jobs are hard to find.
How much does it cost to use a pretend office?
Most spaces charge between 30 yuan and 50 yuan a day ($4–$7), and often include Wi-Fi, drinks, snacks, and access to workstations, as per the BBC report.
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