‘Choose me’: Buddhist temple data specialist job offer gets 30 million-plus views and highlights unemployment in China

China’s official unemployment rate was 5 per cent last month, but only in urban areas and didn’t include rural and migrant workers

More than 10 million university graduates joined the army of job-hunters this year, by April fewer than 30 per cent of them had jobs

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Temple in China offering US$1,500 a month data specialist job sets internet abuzz with droves of applicants. Photo: Handout

Published: 6:00pm, 8 Jul 2022

A data and communications job at a Buddhist temple in China paying 10,000 yuan (US$1,500) a month has been viewed more than 30 million times as the country grapples with high unemployment.

The Fahua Temple located in Huzhou, Zhejiang, eastern China, posted a notice on its account for a “data sorting specialist” on social media app WeChat earlier this week to hire a cultural and historical data sorting specialist.

The 1,400-year-old temple, an important Buddhist site, said responsibilities for the role include archiving the temple’s documents and historical materials, as well as writing reports such as media releases, work summaries and general communications.

The job advertisement quickly went viral online, with more than 30 million views on Weibo this week at the time of writing.

Many jobseekers are not counted in China’s official data, meaning the actual rate of unemployment is far higher than the headline figure. Photo: Handout

A spokesman from the temple said they had received far more job applications than expected, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.