Young Chinese seek alternative jobs in shifting economy

HENGDIAN, China - Braving loneliness and tough auditions, aspiring actress Guo Ting is determined to make it in China’s answer to Hollywood.

The 27-year-old from northern China quit her white-collar job in Beijing in 2024 to move to Hengdian, home to major movie studios and casting agencies.

Ms Guo is part of a trend of young Chinese giving up the traditional aspiration of a stable, mainstream job in exchange for alternative careers and a chance at self-fulfilment.

She has dreamed of becoming an actor since childhood, an ambition initially squashed by pragmatic adults around her.

But after a few years working in an office, Ms Guo now believes “happiness is most important”.

Chinese media and online posts in recent years have drawn public attention to young people trading in their careers for a diverse range of other options, including a nomadic “van life”, becoming an influencer or pursuing art.

While they remain a small minority, the growing discussion around their choices reflects broader changes in the world’s second-largest economy after decades of breakneck growth.

Some people, especially those from more prosperous backgrounds, now “try to redefine what is successful”, said Dr Miao Jia, a sociology expert from New York University Shanghai.

“When they receive better education, and after they have enjoyed the benefits brought by rapid economic growth, (young people) begin to think about what things can make you happy,” she told AFP.

Shifting norms

Ms Guo’s decision to restart her career comes at a time of major shifts in how young Chinese people perceive work.

In recent years, more defeatist concepts such as “lying flat” and “letting it rot” have gained popularity among those grappling with intense job competition.

At the same time, other job seekers anxious about an ongoing economic slowdown and a volatile private sector have flocked to the “iron rice bowls” of civil service and state-owned enterprise jobs.

Many others have trouble finding work altogether, with youth unemployment reaching 14.2 per cent in May.

“The younger generation in China is becoming more and more diverse than the previous generation,” Dr Miao said.

While going to an office may be the norm for urban middle-class youth, for large parts of the country, desk jobs are a rare opportunity.

For 20-year-old Ouyang, a middle school graduate living in global trading hub Yiwu, the small fluorescent-lit office where he helps run an e-commerce business is a novelty.

In his home town in central China’s Henan province, Ouyang, who asked to be identified by a nickname over privacy concerns, “did everything”.

“I was a restaurant server. It was very chaotic, and it felt like I was just killing time with work,” he said.

Put off by the lower pay in his home town, Ouyang recently jumped at the chance to become a live-stream seller of cheap goods after meeting online friends in the business.

‘Routine was meaningless’

Back in Hengdian, Ms Guo prepared for an audition with a meticulous multi-step skincare routine in the apartment she shares with other film industry hopefuls.

Getting ready to play a corporate character working at a fictional firm, she rummaged through her wardrobe for an outfit similar to those she wore for her office job.

The casting agent’s office was next door to a community space run by an actors’ union, where dozens of people sat waiting for auditions and job interviews.

Currently, Ms Guo makes only around 2,000 yuan (S$370) a month from the handful of jobs she can secure.

“In the past, I had a stable monthly salary, and I never had to worry that I wouldn’t have enough to spend,” she said.

The change from the more social environment of her former workplace to a solitary freelance life was also hard to adjust to initially.

But Ms Guo said she and her peers were motivated by more than just money.

The other Hengdian transplants she knows who left mainstream jobs “felt that following a prescribed routine was meaningless”. AFP