‘Naked resignation: Chinese workers ditch careers for flexible jobs

BEIJING Many Chinese workers, especially the young, are opting to leave the traditional job market to pursue more flexible employment opportunities.

The majority of them do so after working for five to 10 years, according to a 2021 report by Maimai, a social networking app for office employees, and Xigua Video, an online video service provider.

Human resources director Su Lan who is based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, said: Young people nowadays have less financial pressure than those born in the 1970s and 1980s, as they grow up in a more open-minded society with more access to information. As a result, they have greater freedom to make their own decisions.”

For some, the career switch was a move spurred by impulse.

After breaking up with her boyfriend, Ms Tang Xue, 24, quit her job six months ago to buy a farm in Anji county, Zhejiang. She was drawn by the prospect of working in the open air, escaping stressful urban life, making new friends, and finding the ideal lifestyle.

“1 believe it is important to do things on impulse sometimes, as I did earlier this year. I chose to take control of my own destiny without worrying about becoming trapped in a meaningless job,’ said Ms Tang, who worked for three shortvideo platforms in Hangzhou after graduating froma university in Hunan province in 2019.

Her farm covers 1.3ha and has a 160 sq m courtyard. She plans to run the farm as a shared vegetable field” project, with customers ordering the produce she grows.

According to a survey on luo ci, or naked resignation” a Chinese buzzword for quitting a job before finding the next one released last year by 5]Job, one of the biggest human resources service companies in China, the two main reasons for such resignations are too much pressure and boring work.