Thirty-year-old Shui Zhou, who lost his food business in 2024, has been paying 30 yuan (about $4.20) a day to go to a simulated office in Dongguan city since April this year. The office, called Pretend To Work Company, is like a real workplace, and Zhou is happy: it feels like he is working alongside five colleagues who do the same thing.
No one wants to work without getting paid, or worse, pay to work. Yet this practice has become common among unemployed young people in China: they pay companies to appear to work there. This is due to the slowing economy and tough job market, where youth unemployment is above 14%.
Thirty-year-old Shui Zhou, who lost his food business in 2024, has been paying 30 yuan (about $4.20) a day to go to a simulated office in the city of Dongguan since April this year. The office, called Pretend To Work Company, is like a real workplace, and Zhou is happy: it feels like he is working alongside five colleagues who are doing the same thing. Young people come in, use computers to look for jobs, start their own businesses, and engage in a social routine. The daily fees, which usually range from 30 to 50 yuan, often include lunch, sandwiches or drinks. The phenomenon has also spread to major Chinese cities such as Shenzhen, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Chengdu and Kunming. The offices are perfect: with internet, meeting rooms and tea rooms.
Dr. Christian Yao from Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand), explains that this trend is the result of a mismatch between education and work demands, and offers as a transitional solution for young people an environment to reflect or do small jobs.
Shui Zhou’s case began with a post on the social network Xiaohongshu: he felt that the office environment would improve his personal discipline, and he has been there for three months. His parents felt more at ease when they saw pictures of the office. He usually arrives at 8-9 am, and sometimes leaves after 11 pm, only after seeing the manager leave first. Now he has made friends with others; when someone is looking for work, he works more intensely, while in his free time they chat, joke and play games, and even have dinner together. In Shanghai, 23-year-old Xiaowen Tang, who graduated last year and has not yet found a full-time job, has taken a temporary job at a ‘Pretend To Work’ office for a month. Her university requires a work contract or internship within a year of graduation; otherwise, the degree is not awarded. She started writing online novels to earn some money on top of what seemed like an internship. She offered the photos to the university as evidence of her internship: “If you’re going to lie, lie all the way,” Xiaowen says.
The director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Dr. Biao Xiang, says this phenomenon stems from feelings of frustration and a lack of employment opportunities. “Pretending to work is a way for young people to give themselves space, a little distance from mainstream society, and a way to maintain a sense of dignity.”
Feiyu, the director of the “Pretend To Work Company” in Dongguan, is 30 years old and had been unemployed himself when the pandemic forced his business to close; he felt depressed and helpless. He started advertising the office in April and within a month, all the spots were filled; others have to apply. About 40% of the clients are young graduates who come for internship photos, although some do it to please their parents. The other 60% are freelancers or digital nomads; the average age is 30, with the youngest being 25. Officially, these are called “flexible work professionals.” Feiyu thinks that in the long run, this business may not remain profitable; but he considers it a social experiment: “We sell not a job, but the dignity of not being useless. If we only help them prolong the game, we are participating in a soft deception. Only if this fake job turns into a real start-up will the social experiment bear fruit.”
Zhou is currently honing his skills in the field of AI, noting that many companies are looking for expertise in artificial intelligence. He believes this will make it easier for him to get a full-time job. (BBC)