Latest news with #moonlighting
Japan Times
16-07-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Beneath China's resilient economy, a life of pay cuts and side hustles
Chinese state firm employee Zhang Jinming makes up for a 24% cut to his salary by delivering food for three hours every night after work and on weekends — and hopes he can avoid awkward encounters with colleagues. "Being a part-time delivery person while working for a state-owned enterprise isn't exactly considered respectable," said Zhang, whose real estate firm now pays him 4,200 yuan ($585) per month, down from 5,500 yuan. While China has supported economic growth by keeping its ports and factories humming, the lack of real demand has hit profits, in turn squeezing workers like Zhang through wage cuts and forcing them to moonlight. "There's just no other way," added the 30-year-old, who rides his scooter until 11.30 pm, making 60-70 yuan per evening. "The pay cut has put me under huge pressure. Many colleagues have resigned and I took over their workload." China's economy posted robust 5.2% growth in the second quarter, showing its export-heavy model has so far withstood U.S. tariffs. But beneath the headline resilience, cracks are widening. Contract and bill payment delays are rising, including among export champions like the autos and electronics industries and at utilities, whose owners — indebted local governments — have to run a tight shop while shoring up tariff-hit factories. Ferocious competition for a slice of external demand, hit by global trade tensions, is crimping industrial profits, fueling factory-gate deflation even as export volumes climb. Workers bear the brunt of companies cutting costs. Falling profits and wages shrank tax revenues, pressuring state employers like Zhang's to cut costs as well. In pockets of the financial system, non-performing loans are surging as authorities push banks to lend more. For the most part, the lopsided nature of growth in the world's second-largest economy is a product of policies that favour exporters over consumers. Economists have long urged Beijing to redirect support to domestically focused sectors, such as education and healthcare, or boost household consumption — for instance, by bolstering welfare — or risk a slowdown in the second half of the year. Max Zenglein, Asia-Pacific senior economist at the Conference Board of Asia, describes China as a "dual-speed economy" with strong industry and weak consumption, noting the two are related. "Some of the economic challenges including low profitability and deflationary pressure are largely driven by continued capacity expansion in the manufacturing and technology sectors," said Zenglein. "What's unfolding now" in the trade war with the U.S. is "coming back home as a domestic issue." Hit to incomes Frank Huang, a 28-year-old teacher in Chongzuo, a city of more than 2 million people near the Vietnam border, in the indebted Guangxi region, says his school has not paid him in two to three months, waiting for authorities to provide the funds. "I can only endure, I don't dare to quit," said Huang, who relies on parents when his 5,000 yuan paycheck doesn't arrive. "If I were married with a mortgage, car loan and child, the pressure would be unimaginable." Another teacher from Linquan, a rural county of 1.5 million in eastern China, said she is only receiving her basic 3,000 yuan monthly salary. The performance-based part of her pay, usually about 16%, "has been consistently delayed." "After I pay for gas, parking and property management fees, what's left isn't enough for groceries," said the teacher, who only gave her surname Yun for privacy reasons. "I feel like begging," added Yun. "If it weren't for my parents, I would starve." A delivery driver rests on his electric bike in Beijing on Jan. 25. | REUTERS There is no data on payment delays in the government sector. But among industrial firms, arrears have grown quickly in sectors with a strong state presence, either through industrial policy or — like in utilities — through direct ownership. Arrears in the computer, communication and electronic equipment sector and in autos manufacturing — two priorities for China's economic planners — rose by 16.6% and 11.2%, respectively, in the year through May, faster than the 9% average across industries. Overdue payments were up 17.1% and 11.1% in the water and gas sectors. These figures suggest liquidity stress and are a side-effect of authorities prioritising output over demand, said Minxiong Liao, senior economist at GlobalData TS Lombard APAC. "The result should be slower growth for these champion sectors," in the future, he said. Spending deferred With incomes under pressure, Beijing is struggling to meet its pledge to lift household consumption and worries are growing that persistent deflation will further damage the economy as consumers defer spending. Huang Tingting quit her waitress job last month after business at her restaurant — and most shops nearby — plummeted in April, at the height of U.S.-China trade tensions. Responding to plunging revenues, the restaurant owner asked staff to take four unpaid leave days every month. "I still have to pay rent and live my life," said the 20-year-old from the eastern Jiangsu province, an export powerhouse that's outpacing national growth, explaining why she quit. In the past, though, she could find another restaurant job in a day or two. This time, she's been unemployed since June. One recruiter told her a job she applied for had more than 10 other candidates. "The job market this year is worse than last year," said Huang.
Reuters
16-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Beneath China's resilient economy, a life of pay cuts and side hustles
BEIJING, July 16 (Reuters) - Chinese state firm employee Zhang Jinming makes up for a 24% cut to his salary by delivering food for three hours every night after work and on weekends - and hopes he can avoid awkward encounters with colleagues. "Being a part-time delivery person while working for a state-owned enterprise isn't exactly considered respectable," said Zhang, whose real estate firm pays him 4,200 yuan ($585) per month, down from 5,500 yuan. While China has supported economic growth by keeping its ports and factories humming, the lack of real demand has hit profits, in turn squeezing workers like Zhang through wage cuts and forcing them to moonlight. "There's just no other way," added the 30-year-old, who rides his scooter until 11.30 pm, making 60-70 yuan per evening. "The pay cut has put me under huge pressure. Many colleagues have resigned and I took over their workload." China's economy posted robust 5.2% growth in the second quarter, showing its export-heavy model has so far withstood U.S. tariffs. But beneath the headline resilience, cracks are widening. Contract and bill payment delays are rising, including among export champions like the autos and electronics industries and at utilities, whose owners, indebted local governments, have to run a tight shop while shoring up tariff-hit factories. Ferocious competition for a slice of external demand, hit by global trade tensions, is crimping industrial profits, fuelling factory-gate deflation even as export volumes climb. Workers bear the brunt of companies cutting costs. Falling profits and wages shrank tax revenues, pressuring state employers like Zhang's to cut costs as well. In pockets of the financial system, non-performing loans are surging as authorities push banks to lend more. For the most part, the lopsided nature of growth in the world's second-largest economy is a product of policies that favour exporters over consumers. Economists have long urged Beijing to redirect support to domestically focused sectors, such as education and healthcare, or boost household consumption - for instance, by bolstering welfare - or risk a slowdown in the second half of the year. Max Zenglein, Asia-Pacific senior economist at the Conference Board of Asia, describes China as a "dual-speed economy" with strong industry and weak consumption, noting the two are related. "Some of the economic challenges including low profitability and deflationary pressure are largely driven by continued capacity expansion in the manufacturing and technology sectors," said Zenglein. "What's unfolding now" in the trade war with the U.S. is "coming back home as a domestic issue." Frank Huang, a 28-year-old teacher in Chongzuo, a city of more than 2 million people near the Vietnam border, in the indebted Guangxi region, says his school has not paid him in two-to-three months, waiting for authorities to provide the funds. "I can only endure, I don't dare to quit," said Huang, who relies on parents when his 5,000 yuan paycheck doesn't arrive. "If I were married with a mortgage, car loan and child, the pressure would be unimaginable." Another teacher from Linquan, a rural county of 1.5 million in eastern China, said she is only receiving her basic 3,000 yuan monthly salary. The performance-based part of her pay, usually about 16%, "has been consistently delayed." "After I pay for gas, parking and property management fees, what's left isn't enough for groceries," said the teacher, who only gave her surname Yun for privacy reasons. "I feel like begging," added Yun. "If it weren't for my parents, I would starve." There is no data on payment delays in the government sector. But among industrial firms, arrears have grown quickly in sectors with a strong state presence, either through industrial policy or - like in utilities - through direct ownership. Arrears in the computer, communication and electronic equipment sector and in autos manufacturing - two priorities for China's economic planners - rose by 16.6% and 11.2%, respectively, in the year through May, faster than the 9% average across industries. Overdue payments were up 17.1% and 11.1% in the water and gas sectors. These figures suggest liquidity stress and are a side-effect of authorities prioritising output over demand, said Minxiong Liao, senior economist at Lombard APAC. "The result should be slower growth for these champion sectors," in the future, he said. With incomes under pressure, Beijing is struggling to meet its pledge to lift household consumption and worries are growing that persistent deflation will further damage the economy as consumers defer spending. Huang Tingting quit her waitress job last month after business at her restaurant - and most shops nearby - plummeted in April, at the height of U.S.-China trade tensions. Responding to plunging revenues, the restaurant owner asked staff to take four unpaid leave days every month. "I still have to pay rent and live my life," said the 20-year-old from the eastern Jiangsu province, an export powerhouse that's outpacing national growth, explaining why she quit. In the past, though, she could find another restaurant job in a day or two. This time, she's been unemployed since June. One recruiter told her a job she applied for had more than 10 other candidates. "The job market this year is worse than last year," said Huang. ($1 = 7.1799 Chinese yuan)
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Analysis-Beneath China's resilient economy, a life of pay cuts and side hustles
BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese state firm employee Zhang Jinming makes up for a 24% cut to his salary by delivering food for three hours every night after work and on weekends - and hopes he can avoid awkward encounters with colleagues. "Being a part-time delivery person while working for a state-owned enterprise isn't exactly considered respectable," said Zhang, whose real estate firm pays him 4,200 yuan ($585) per month, down from 5,500 yuan. While China has supported economic growth by keeping its ports and factories humming, the lack of real demand has hit profits, in turn squeezing workers like Zhang through wage cuts and forcing them to moonlight. "There's just no other way," added the 30-year-old, who rides his scooter until 11.30 pm, making 60-70 yuan per evening. "The pay cut has put me under huge pressure. Many colleagues have resigned and I took over their workload." China's economy posted robust 5.2% growth in the second quarter, showing its export-heavy model has so far withstood U.S. tariffs. But beneath the headline resilience, cracks are widening. Contract and bill payment delays are rising, including among export champions like the autos and electronics industries and at utilities, whose owners, indebted local governments, have to run a tight shop while shoring up tariff-hit factories. Ferocious competition for a slice of external demand, hit by global trade tensions, is crimping industrial profits, fuelling factory-gate deflation even as export volumes climb. Workers bear the brunt of companies cutting costs. Falling profits and wages shrank tax revenues, pressuring state employers like Zhang's to cut costs as well. In pockets of the financial system, non-performing loans are surging as authorities push banks to lend more. For the most part, the lopsided nature of growth in the world's second-largest economy is a product of policies that favour exporters over consumers. Economists have long urged Beijing to redirect support to domestically focused sectors, such as education and healthcare, or boost household consumption - for instance, by bolstering welfare - or risk a slowdown in the second half of the year. Max Zenglein, Asia-Pacific senior economist at the Conference Board of Asia, describes China as a "dual-speed economy" with strong industry and weak consumption, noting the two are related. "Some of the economic challenges including low profitability and deflationary pressure are largely driven by continued capacity expansion in the manufacturing and technology sectors," said Zenglein. "What's unfolding now" in the trade war with the U.S. is "coming back home as a domestic issue." HIT TO INCOMES Frank Huang, a 28-year-old teacher in Chongzuo, a city of more than 2 million people near the Vietnam border, in the indebted Guangxi region, says his school has not paid him in two-to-three months, waiting for authorities to provide the funds. "I can only endure, I don't dare to quit," said Huang, who relies on parents when his 5,000 yuan paycheck doesn't arrive. "If I were married with a mortgage, car loan and child, the pressure would be unimaginable." Another teacher from Linquan, a rural county of 1.5 million in eastern China, said she is only receiving her basic 3,000 yuan monthly salary. The performance-based part of her pay, usually about 16%, "has been consistently delayed." "After I pay for gas, parking and property management fees, what's left isn't enough for groceries," said the teacher, who only gave her surname Yun for privacy reasons. "I feel like begging," added Yun. "If it weren't for my parents, I would starve." There is no data on payment delays in the government sector. But among industrial firms, arrears have grown quickly in sectors with a strong state presence, either through industrial policy or - like in utilities - through direct ownership. Arrears in the computer, communication and electronic equipment sector and in autos manufacturing - two priorities for China's economic planners - rose by 16.6% and 11.2%, respectively, in the year through May, faster than the 9% average across industries. Overdue payments were up 17.1% and 11.1% in the water and gas sectors. These figures suggest liquidity stress and are a side-effect of authorities prioritising output over demand, said Minxiong Liao, senior economist at Lombard APAC. "The result should be slower growth for these champion sectors," in the future, he said. SPENDING DEFERRED With incomes under pressure, Beijing is struggling to meet its pledge to lift household consumption and worries are growing that persistent deflation will further damage the economy as consumers defer spending. Huang Tingting quit her waitress job last month after business at her restaurant - and most shops nearby - plummeted in April, at the height of U.S.-China trade tensions. Responding to plunging revenues, the restaurant owner asked staff to take four unpaid leave days every month. "I still have to pay rent and live my life," said the 20-year-old from the eastern Jiangsu province, an export powerhouse that's outpacing national growth, explaining why she quit. In the past, though, she could find another restaurant job in a day or two. This time, she's been unemployed since June. One recruiter told her a job she applied for had more than 10 other candidates. "The job market this year is worse than last year," said Huang. ($1 = 7.1799 Chinese yuan)
Fast Company
08-07-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
‘The /r/overemployed king': A serial moonlighter was exposed for holding 19 jobs at Silicon Valley startups
A software engineer became X's main character last week after being outed as a serial moonlighter at multiple Silicon Valley startups. 'PSA: there's a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3–4 startups at the same time,' wrote Suhail Doshi, the founder of AI design company Playground, on X on Tuesday. 'He's been preying on YC companies and more. Beware.' In the comments, founders of other Silicon Valley companies shared similar stories of interviewing, hiring, and often firing the engineer. 'LMFAOOO I INTERVIEWED THIS GUY YESTERDAY BRO IM DYINGG,' Cluely CEO Roy Lee posted on X. Digger CEO Igor Zalutski said his company 'nearly hired him,' adding 'he seemed so sharp and no-bs during the interviews.' Following the revelation, a database named SohamTracker sprang up, revealing that Parekh has held at least 19 jobs since 2021—at least five of which he started in just the last two months. 'This is pretty hilarious actually lmao. could be a skit on silicon valley,' one X user wrote. 'The /r/overemployed king,' another added. On Thursday, Parekh appeared on the podcast TBPN to address the accusations. He admitted he was driven to juggle multiple jobs due to 'dire financial circumstances.' He added: 'I just thought that if I worked multiple places, I can basically help myself alleviate the situation I was in much faster.' Parekh claimed to have been working 140-hour weeks—roughly 20 hours a day—with many of the roles requiring in-person attendance. Unsurprisingly, he noted that he's known among friends for not sleeping. While the hustle might be admirable to some, Parekh is hardly alone in embracing Silicon Valley's so-called 'grindset' mentality. The subreddit r/overemployed currently hosts nearly half a million members, where users trade stories about secretly holding down multiple remote jobs. 'We roast Soham Parekh, but remember your company's making you do five people's jobs on one person's salary,' one X user pointed out. Ironically, Parekh's exposure has ended up working in his favor—he landed a new job at Darwin, an AI video remixing startup. Still, his actions may have consequences for others in similar situations. 'After the Soham saga, pretty sure very few YC startups will hire remote Indians,' wrote Varunram Ganesh, head of growth at payroll platform Warp, on X. 'Classic case of one guy exploiting a high-trust society, which leads to downfall of all the others around him.' But 'everyone's favorite founding engineer' insists he meant no harm. 'I don't really care much about the money,' he told TBPN. 'I was really into it for building.'
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Who is Soham Parekh, the serial moonlighter Silicon Valley startups can't stop hiring?
In the last week, social media users have shared dozens of stories about encounters with Soham Parekh, a software engineer who seems to have been simultaneously working at multiple Silicon Valley startups — unbeknownst to the companies — for the last several years. But who is Parekh, how did he pull off his career as a serial moonlighter, and why can't Silicon Valley get enough of him? The saga all started when Suhail Doshi — CEO of image generation startup Playground AI — shared a post Tuesday on X that began: 'PSA: there's a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups at the same time. He's been preying on YC companies and more. Beware.' Doshi claims that, roughly a year ago, he fired Parekh from Playground AI after he found out he was working at other companies. '[I] told him to stop lying/scamming people. He hasn't stopped a year later,' Doshi wrote. That post from Doshi received roughly 20 million views and prompted several other founders to share their run-ins with Parekh as well. Flo Crivello, the CEO of Lindy, a startup that helps people automate their workflows with AI, said he hired Parekh in recent weeks, but fired him in light of Doshi's tweet. Matt Parkhurst, the CEO of Antimetal, a startup that does automated cloud management, confirmed that Parekh was the company's first engineering hire in 2022. Parkhurst tells TechCrunch that Antimetal let Parekh go in early 2023 after they realized he was moonlighting at other companies. Parekh also seems to have worked at Sync Labs, a startup that makes an AI lip-synching tool, where he even starred in a promotional video. He was ultimately let go. At some point, Parekh applied to several Y Combinator-backed startups. Haz Hubble, the co-founder of Pally AI, a Y Combinator-backed startup building an 'AI relationship management platform,' says he offered Parekh a founding engineer role. Adish Jain, the co-founder of YC-backed Mosaic — an AI video editing startup — said he interviewed Parekh for a role, too. TechCrunch has reached out to these companies for comment, but they did not immediately respond. It turns out that Parekh did quite well in many of these interviews and received offers, largely because he's a gifted software engineer. For instance, Rohan Pandey, a founding research engineer of the YC-backed startup Reworkd, told TechCrunch that he interviewed Parekh for a role and he was a strong candidate. Pandey, who is no longer with the startup, says Parekh was one of the top three performers on an algorithms-focused interview they gave candidates. Pandey said the Reworkd team suspected something was off with Parekh. At the time, Parekh told Reworkd he was in the U.S. — a requirement for the job — but the company didn't believe him. They ran an IP logger on a Zoom link from Parekh and located him in India. Pandey recalled other things Parekh said often didn't add up, and some of his GitHub contributions and previous roles didn't quite make sense either. That seems to be a common experience when dealing with Parekh. Adam Silverman, co-founder of the AI agent observability startup, Agency, told TechCrunch his company also interviewed Parekh. Silverman said Parekh sent him a cold DM about a job opening at Agency, and they set up a meeting. Parekh had to reschedule that meeting five times, according to Silverman and emails from Parekh viewed by TechCrunch. Silverman says he was also impressed by Parekh's technical ability, but in the interview, he insisted on working remotely. Much like with Reworkd, that was a red flag for Agency. Roy Lee, the CEO of the 'cheat on everything' AI startup, Cluely, tells TechCrunch he interviewed Parekh twice for a role. Lee said Parekh interviews quite well and 'seemed to have strong react knowledge,' referencing a popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces. Lee says Cluely did not end up hiring Parekh. However, several other companies clearly did. Parekh made an appearance on the Technology Business Programming Network (TBPN) on Thursday to tell co-hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays his side of the story and explain why he's worked at so many companies. He admitted that he's been working at multiple jobs simultaneously since 2022. Parekh claims he was not using AI tools or hiring junior software engineers to assist him with his workload. All that work has made Parekh a much better programmer, he believes, but notes that it's taken a toll. Parekh said he's notorious among his friends for not sleeping. He repeated several times throughout the interview that he works 140 hours a week, which comes out to 20 hours a day, seven days a week. That seems to be borderline impossible — or at the very least, extremely unhealthy and unsustainable. Parekh also said he took multiple jobs because he was in 'financial jeopardy,' implying he needed all the income he could get from his various employers. He claims he deferred going to a graduate school program he had been accepted to, and instead decided to work at several startups simultaneously. Notably, Doshi shared a copy of Parekh's resumé that claims he received a masters degree from Georgia Institute of Technology. When TBPN's co-hosts asked why Parekh didn't just ask one company to raise his salary and help with his financial struggles, Parekh said he liked to keep a boundary between his professional and private life. (But he had also opted for low salaries and high equity at all his jobs, which doesn't quite add up with his financial crisis story. However, Parekh declined to share more about it.) Parekh told the hosts he genuinely loved his work, and it was not solely about the money. He says he was very invested in the missions of all the companies where he worked. He also admitted that he's not proud of what he's done, and he doesn't endorse it. Some are calling Parekh a scam artist and a liar, but in classic Silicon Valley fashion, Parekh appears to be trying to turn his viral moment into a business. Parekh announced his newest employer, which he claims to be exclusively working at: Darwin Studios, a startup working on AI video remixing. However, Parekh quickly deleted the post after announcing it, as did the founder and CEO of the startup, Sanjit Juneja. TechCrunch has reached out to Parekh requesting an interview regarding this article, however, he has not yet accepted. Instead, a spokesperson representing him sent TechCrunch a statement from Darwin's CEO. 'Soham is an incredibly talented engineer and we believe in his abilities to help bring our products to market,' said Juneja. We've seen countless startups turn their viral, often controversial, moments into businesses in the last year. One of the most famous is Cluely, which is known for creating provocative marketing campaigns. It's rage bait, but it's attention-grabbing, and it was enough to land Cluely a $15 million seed round from Andreessen Horowitz. Perhaps Parekh will land a similar fortune in the future. Update: This story has been updated to reflect TBPN's current name and include additional comments from Antimetal.
