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China can’t afford to ignore its army of gig workers
Part-time and gig roles have become more prevalent as full-time employment deteriorates.
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The gig economy experience lies at the core of writer Hu Anyan’s best-selling memoir, I Deliver Parcels In Beijing, a raw, darkly comical work newly available in English.
PHOTO: AFP
Juliana Liu
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Pivoting to a tech-driven growth model after the collapse of the property sector is a sensible move for China. The strategy has helped Beijing win a trade truce with Washington. But it may take years for the country’s industrial giants to mature enough to create enough jobs.
In the meantime, some 200 million people – equivalent to about 40 per cent of the urban labour force – are stuck in the gig economy.
