Jobless Chinese Youth Embrace "Pretend Work" to Escape Job Hunt Stress

As of 2025-08-17T10:42:13+00:00, a growing trend has emerged in China where companies are offering unemployed individuals the opportunity to "pretend" to have jobs. These fake firms, which are common in major cities, rent out office spaces and turn them into makeshift workplaces.

The companies charge around 30 to 50 yuan (₹350 to ₹600) per day, with monthly packages being even more affordable. One such firm in Hangzhou, owned by Chen Yingjian, even organizes pretend interviews and sets rules like working from 9 to 6, no smoking, and no office romance. However, many of these firms are not legally registered, as reported by the South China Morning Post.

Some people use these "pretend work" firms as a form of co-working space, while others see it as a way to escape the stress of job hunting. For instance, a young woman joined a firm for a single day just to film content for social media and show her mother that she had found a "proper job."

The trend has gained popularity among China's urban youth, particularly those aged 16 to 24, as the country's youth unemployment rate stood at 15.8% in the first half of 2025, much higher than the overall urban rate of 5.2%. One such individual, Ryan, a 25-year-old who graduated 18 months ago, has been sitting in an office for eight hours daily at a "pretend work" firm in Jiangsu province for the past six months, sending staged photos to his parents to appear employed.

These firms sometimes provide free coffee and lunch, and many join to meet others facing similar struggles. The trend has emerged as society dislikes idleness, and earlier, jobless youth would pass the time in cafes or libraries to mimic work.