Chinese turning to casual work to boost wages amid economic slump

Side hustles may top up income lost through delayed wages, salary cuts

- Aw Cheng Wei

CHONGQING - Workers in China are picking up side jobs amid an economic malaise in the world's second-largest economy that has left many - particularly the young - anxious about their employment prospects.

They are hoping that their side hustles can top up the income that they have lost through delayed wages and salary cuts of as much as 30 per cent as companies, including state-owned ones, struggle to stay afloat.

Some are even hoping that they can ditch their current jobs - which they say have become increasingly unstable in recent months - if their side gigs take off.

A 2023 survey showed that workers in industries such as education, construction, media and advertising are most likely to engage in casual work.

Human resources executive Duan Ning, 29, started writing short stories for an online community in March when her salary was cut from 12,000 yuan (S$2,230) a month to its current 9,700 yuan in November 2023.

"I was initially feeling very helpless about my pay cuts, but I decided to start on my side hustle as a writer," said Ms Duan, who studied English in university.

So far, she has made a "negligible hundreds of yuan" by charging personal subscriptions of about eight yuan to unlock each chapter of her stories, but she is hopeful about growing her readership in time.

"Honestly, it is very depressing to be working in this economy, given that nothing much is going on," she said.

A series of regulatory clampdowns and worsening geopolitical tensions have put a drag on China's economic growth and dampened business sentiment in the country, resulting in delayed salaries and wage cuts, among other problems.

Officials on Sept 24 released the country's most aggressive measures since its Covid-19 reopening that aimed to promote new loans and spur property purchases.