CN unemployment rate should be around 25 to 30% now when most of employee will be fired after 35.
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35 may be too old to find work in China
An increasingly large number of job applications are asking employees over the age of 35 to not apply, putting a lot of pressure on workers who are not even middle-aged.
Is 35 suddenly becoming
“over the hill” in China? It certainly
feels that way to some workers.
As the
competition for jobs becomes more fierce among a pandemic-related economic slowdown, a growing number of employment ads are posting age limits of 35 for fresh applicants.
The problem is so widespread that state media has even branded it the “age 35 phenomenon.”
The coronavirus pandemic has increased competition for jobs in China, making it harder for people over the age of 35 to find work. Photo: Xinhua/Wang Xiao
In his forties, David Huang is one of the scores of Chinese workers above 35 feeling increasingly vulnerable.
After the small clothing factory he owned in the southern province of Guangdong closed last year, he now roams between wet markets and roadside stalls, trying to sell his remaining inventory of about 10,000 garments.
“I’m almost 50. Am I going to look for jobs? No. There’s nothing for me out there. Finding jobs is too difficult,” Huang said. “Just look at how bad business is in those clothing retail shops in Guangzhou, you will get an idea how bad wholesaling and manufacturing garments is at the moment.”
The situation only appears to have deteriorated with the pandemic.
According to a report released last month by the Development Research Center of the State Council, nearly two-thirds of people aged 35 and above who were laid off in March last year were still looking for jobs in September.
Consequently, nearly half of the job applicants above 35 fell from middle or high-income groups to low income because their earnings had dropped, according to the study.
There is a perception that people in China over the age of 35 cannot handle the ‘996’ work culture. Photo: Todd Warnock
Age discrimination is illegal in many countries, but not in China, which is facing a rapidly aging population and shrinking workforce after more than three decades of the one-child policy.
Despite this, many companies are seen as favoring young and energetic graduates over middle-aged workers because they can pay lower salaries for similar work.
The trend is most evident in China’s thriving tech sector, where a number of internet firms operate a sweatshop working culture known as “996” – working between 9am to 9pm, six days per week. Most developers over 35 are considered too old to handle the workload.
Tang Ying, 36, has found herself in the grips of insomnia and depression lately while grappling with the possibility of losing her job as a front desk administrative employee at a small tech firm in Guangzhou.
The past year has been a nightmare for Tang: her marriage fell apart and she contracted tuberculosis, an infectious disease affecting the lungs.
When she went back to her job after recovering, the company gave her more work than usual, something she perceived to mean they wanted her to quit.
Yet, she has stayed on, concerned her lack of a university degree will mean she would be unable to find work elsewhere.
“I’m scared. I don’t have confidence in sending out resumes,” said Tang, who worked at a call center as a customer service operator previously. “Many places only want people under 35. I have been battling with this thought a lot. All I think of is trying to hold on to this job.”
Another obstacle for ex-employees of big companies like Huawei is that they have trouble meeting the multiple demands made by smaller firms, said Jim Yang, a 38-year-old who lost his job as a salesman at Huawei three years ago.
It took Yang three months to find a new job at a small robot manufacturer, where he had to take a lower salary.
Meanwhile, some of his old colleagues have gone back to Huawei as contractors on lower incomes and social benefits after struggling to find a job elsewhere.
“Among my friends above 35 who left Huawei, about 40% have kept a decent life,” Yang said.
“The other 60% are a bit miserable. They have either been out of work for a long time and invested in stocks or are partnering with others to start a business, but don’t take salaries, only for dividends. Some have divorced with no job, sold their homes, and returned to their hometowns.”
An increasingly large number of job applications are asking employees over the age of 35 to not apply, putting a lot of pressure on workers who are not even middle-aged.
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