The unemployment rate locally is 2.7%, the lowest it’s been in five years. Job markets tend to ebb and flow. Sometimes there’s a solid market for college graduates; other times, not so much. But one way to “game” the system appears to be gaining popularity in China, according to the British Broadcast Company (BBC).
Some Chinese college graduates are not getting paid to go to work, they’re actually paying to go to a pseudo-workplace! With youth unemployment at 14% in China these days, young adults pay daily fees to go into a mock office run by (ready for this) Pretend To Work Company. They sit around with other like-minded unemployed folks, work at computers, play video games, drink tea, and go to meetings. You may have experienced a co-worker who “pretends to work”; that’s now a real thing in China.
This poser workplace does offer an opportunity, perhaps under the heading of “misery loves company”, to search for real work, hone social skills, take pictures at a desk, try one’s luck as an influencer, and feel connected… to something.
Pretend To Work’s owner (himself formerly unemployed) promoted his new venture in April, and by May all his available workstations were full. There’s now a waiting list for people to not work. 40% of attendees are recently-graduated students, while others are freelancers, between jobs, lost in the downsizing digital world, ride-share or truck drivers, or even self-proclaimed online novelists.
Perhaps the socialization aspect offsets the pressures and stigma of not being gainfully employed. But it’s all shibai. The Pretend To Work owner claims he provides “dignity” yet acknowledges that his set up is “…complicit in a gentle deception”. Indeed. Some “workers” say they are fine-tuning their A.I. skills. Of course! They’re already adept at fakery.
Workplace relationships can be vital for connecting and providing a sense of belonging, but let’s hope this phony workplace trend doesn’t catch on. Socializing and teamwork are great, but sleight of hand and trickery are not good lessons to be learning or leaning on- even when feeling desperate. Commiserating is one thing, but fake work?
If an employer hired someone and then found out that his/her résumé or pictures of that person “working” at an assumed former job were fake, well… that probably wouldn’t end well. This pop-up job façade might be the one time where you can sincerely say, “DO give up your day job”.
Think about it…