In a notable trend that is consolidating in Chinamany young professionals are choosing to say goodbye to stable, well-paying jobs in a unique way: organizing extravagant parties that celebrate leaving the world of work.
Social media users have shared images of these parties, in which they commemorate the decisions to stay away from “toxic” job offers or “labor exploitation.”
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Essential elements of these ‘resignation parties’ include giant banners on red and yellow colorslife-size signs of the person leaving their job, cakes and flower arrangements, as well as pageant-style sashes for women.
This is how a 27-year-old young man described it, who for a media report cnnrecounted how he left his stable job despite his financial stability, in order to find something that would truly make him happy.
The phenomenon is so big that even several food and entertainment companies are offering “resignation party packages” to their customers.
These usually include, according to several posts on the Weibo social network, ironic posters with the theme of resignation and a special song sung by the staff.
However, in the midst of a panorama in which youth unemployment is increasing (which exceeds 20 percent, according to the latest reports from the National Bureau of Statistics of China), This trend has been considered by some as strange and counterproductive.
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Why are young people quitting in China?
This feeling of dissatisfaction is aggravated, according to experts, by a mismatch between people’s educational levels and qualifications and the available jobs.
According to the previously cited media report, Columbia University Sociology professor Yao Lu explains that a significant proportion of employees are overqualified for their jobs, which means that their positions do not require the skills and knowledge acquired in the school.
Furthermore, many of them grew up amid economic prosperity, but now face stagnant wages, a culture of overwork, and a disconnect between their educational qualifications and the job opportunities available to them.
On the other hand, according to a report by the Associated Press agency, a growing number of young Chinese are choosing not to participate in the competitive traditional educational career. What’s more, what they do is leave the country, seeking to escape the extremely competitive work culture, family pressures and limited opportunities they face after three years of rigorous pandemic policies.
This has in part also been reflected in the figures from the National Bureau of Statistics of China, since in June, the urban unemployment rate among people aged 16 to 24 reached a historical record of 21.3%. In July, the government stopped publishing age-disaggregated data, raising concerns that these politically sensitive numbers could have risen further.
Laura Natalia Bohórquez Roncancio
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