BEIJING: The country’s youth are rewriting the rules of work – turning hobbies, side gigs and digital platforms into viable careers, and in the process are reshaping the labour market from the ground up.
A decade ago, a chance encounter quietly set Lane Lu on that path. Newly married and looking for extra income, the resident of Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, stumbled across repair-service listings on Xianyu, the country’s leading second-hand marketplace.
Lu posted a listing on an impulse. What followed surprised him. “I never expected so many people would reach out,” he recalled. “Not just from my city, but from all over the country – there was even someone from South Korea.”
The barriers were minimal – no deposits, no storefront, just a smartphone and a willingness to try. Lu, who had always enjoyed tinkering with gadgets, took what felt like a small, almost naive step into a niche that would ultimately generate more than 200,000 yuan a year.
Today, Lu splits his time between two worlds. By day, he works as a consultant at an elderly health service institution. By night – and often into the wee hours – he repairs home appliances, troubleshoots electronics and installs electric vehicle charging equipment.
A recent report by the China New Employment Research Center examining emerging career trends said the country’s youth are moving away from the pursuit of stable, long-term jobs toward a more fluid model of “multiple roles and identities”.
Instead of a single career trajectory, younger workers are assembling portfolios of income streams – part freelancer, part creator, part entrepreneur. This shift is occurring against the backdrop of the platform economy. — China Daily/ANN
