Coronavirus leaves China’s over-35s with uncertain job prospects
- Amid a tough job market, Chinese jobseekers above age 35 are feeling increasingly insecure about their future
- Many firms are seen as favouring young and energetic graduates in China, where age discrimination is not illegal
For some Chinese workers, celebrating their 35th birthday is starting to feel like a curse.
Amid the frenzied competition for jobs stirred up by the economic impact of the pandemic, a growing number of employment ads are imposing age limits of 35 – leaving many Chinese nearing middle age feeling uncertain about their future.
Complaints about age discrimination in the job market – including for positions in the civil service – have flooded Chinese social platforms, and state media even have a name for the trend: the “age 35 phenomenon”.
David Huang, who is in his forties, 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 traipses 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.
“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.”
On Zhihu, China’s version of the American question and answer website Quora, a discussion thread called “How does a 40-year-old unemployed individual live on?” has clocked up more than 27 million views since 2019. In post after post, users share their frustration about trying to find work in their middle age.