Chinese Workers Confront the Curse of 35

When Sean Liang turned 30, he began considering of the Curse of 35 — the widespread perception in China that white-collar staff like him confront unavoidable job insecurity after they hit that age. Within the eyes of employers, the Curse goes, they’re dearer than new graduates and never as keen to work additional time.

Mr. Liang, now 38, is a know-how help skilled turned private coach. He has been unemployed for a lot of the previous three years, partly due to the pandemic and China’s sagging economic system. However he believes the primary motive is his age. He’s too previous for a lot of employers, together with the Chinese language authorities, which caps the hiring age for many civil servant positions at 35. If the Curse of 35 is a legend, it’s one supported by some info.

“I work out, so I look fairly younger for my age,” he mentioned in an interview. “However within the eyes of society, folks like me are out of date.”

China’s postpandemic financial rebound has hit a wall, and the Curse of 35 has grow to be the speak of the Chinese language web. It’s not clear how the phenomenon began, and it’s laborious to understand how a lot fact there may be to it. However there’s little doubt that the job market is weak and that age discrimination, which isn’t in opposition to the legislation in China, is prevalent. That could be a double whammy for staff of their mid-30s who’re making massive selections about profession, marriage and kids.

“Too previous to work at 35 and too younger to retire at 60,” mentioned a viral on-line publish — that means that individuals of prime working age lack prospects and older folks could have to maintain working as the federal government is contemplating elevating the retirement age. The publish goes on: “Keep away from homeownership, marriage, kids, automobile possession, visitors and medicines, and also you’ll personal happiness, freedom and time.”

Mr. Liang has since moved from Guangzhou in southern China again to his house village as a result of he couldn’t afford his lease of lower than $100 a month. He’s not married; neither are three of his cousins, throughout his age. He mentioned solely folks with steady jobs, akin to authorities staff and lecturers, may afford to begin a household.

Rising competitors within the job market is one motive younger Chinese language are delaying marriages, an official with the nationwide well being fee, which oversees demographic insurance policies, was quoted as saying by the Chinese language information media final yr.

It’s laborious to belief employment information from the Chinese language authorities, which counts anybody who has labored one hour every week. That low bar has stored the city unemployment fee at a bit of over 5 p.c for a lot of this yr, higher than in 2019.

Numbers from the company world inform a special story. Within the first three months of this yr, Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu, among the many nation’s largest web firms and best-paying employers, employed about 9 p.c fewer staff than they did throughout their hiring peak within the pandemic, based on their monetary stories. A few of China’s largest actual property builders minimize their head counts by 30, 50 and even 70 p.c in 2022.

“The following few years would be the most difficult time for employment because the reform and opening up” within the late Nineteen Seventies, Wang Mingyuan, an economist in Beijing, wrote in a broadly circulated article. He famous that round 50 million folks ages 16 to 40 could possibly be unemployed by 2028, including, “It may set off a collection of deeper crises.”

In 2022, the variety of marriage registrations fell 10.5 p.c from a yr earlier, to the bottom quantity since China started disclosing the info in 1986. The nation’s birthrate fell to a low level final yr, and its inhabitants shrank for the primary time since 1961, the tip of the Nice Famine.

Age discrimination impacts all older staff, however folks of their mid-30s could really feel it most acutely as a result of they’re experiencing it for the primary time.

Flynn Fan began dreading 35 when he was 30. He knew he is likely to be handed over for work in just a few years, however till then his downside was overwork.

At his final firm, he mentioned, most of his colleagues had been both single, like him, or married with out kids. Their additional time shifts had been uncontrolled. For 3 months in 2021, Mr. Fan mentioned, the earliest he left work was 11 p.m. He began taking anti-anxiety medicine.

Then late final yr he was let go, together with most of his colleagues, at a man-made intelligence firm in Shanghai.

Previously six months, he has despatched his résumé to greater than 300 firms and landed 10 interviews with no provide. Now he’s searching for jobs that pay 20 to 30 p.c much less. He additionally began wanting in different cities close to Shanghai.

At 35, he feels younger. However for society, he mentioned, 35 is sort of a “plague.”

Cici Zhang is 32 and has already been informed by employers that she’s too previous. She confirmed a screenshot of a job posting at an organization that sells maternity merchandise, with the age restrict set beneath 32. One among her former supervisors informed her that he may substitute her with a younger graduate after three months of coaching.

Chinese language firms prefer to chase the most well liked pattern as a substitute of perfecting what they have already got, she mentioned. So expertise and experience aren’t the qualities they worth most.‌

As a lady, Ms. Zhang faces added layers of discrimination. Since she was 25, she has fielded questions from employers about when she deliberate to have kids. When she answered that she and her husband had no such plans, she can be requested what their dad and mom considered their determination.

After being laid off in September, Ms. Zhang, a advertising and marketing skilled, messaged greater than 3,000 firms, despatched her résumé to greater than 300 and landed fewer than 10 interviews. Final month, she lastly bought a job provide from a small firm.

She accepted the job, feeling no pleasure or happiness about it.

“I used to have expectations. I needed promotions, pay raises and a greater life,” she mentioned. “Now I’ve none. I simply need to survive.”

She and her husband really feel they’ll’t afford to have kids. They’ve a mortgage and barely scraped by when she was out of labor, whereas worrying that he, too, may lose his job.

Their anxieties make them wonder if it’s even truthful to have kids. Ms. Zhang quoted a well-liked saying on the web: “If a toddler’s delivery is supposed to inherit one’s toil, panic and poverty, then not giving delivery can be a type of kindness.”

Mr. Liang, the 38-year-old tech skilled, mentioned one thing comparable. He loves kids however doesn’t imagine he may give them a superb life. Like many Chinese language who grew up within the countryside, he was raised by his grandparents whereas his dad and mom labored in cities. He wouldn’t need his kids to have that life.

Moreover, he first has to discover a job. Even earlier than the pandemic, he was requested at an interview why he was making use of for a tech help place at his age. He confirmed me the job listings of his native provincial authorities: The age requirement for all positions was 18 to 35.

After I commented that 35 should weigh like a mountain, Mr. Liang responded, “It’s the precipice.”