When Sean Liang turned 30, he began pondering of the Curse of 35 — the widespread perception in China that white-collar staff like him confront unavoidable job insecurity after they hit that age. In the eyes of employers, the Curse goes, they’re costlier than new graduates and never as prepared to work extra time.
Mr. Liang, now 38, is a know-how help skilled turned private coach. He has been unemployed for a lot of the previous three years, partly due to the pandemic and China’s sagging economic system. But he believes the principle purpose is his age. He’s too outdated for a lot of employers, together with the Chinese authorities, which caps the hiring age for many civil servant positions at 35. If the Curse of 35 is a legend, it’s one supported by some info.
“I work out, so I look pretty young for my age,” he mentioned in an interview. “But in the eyes of society, people like me are obsolete.”
China’s postpandemic financial rebound has hit a wall, and the Curse of 35 has turn into the discuss of the Chinese web. It’s not clear how the phenomenon began, and it’s laborious to understand how a lot reality there may be to it. But there’s little question that the job market is weak and that age discrimination, which isn’t in opposition to the legislation in China, is prevalent. That is a double whammy for staff of their mid-30s who’re making huge choices about profession, marriage and kids.
“Too old to work at 35 and too young to retire at 60,” mentioned a viral on-line submit — which means that individuals of prime working age lack prospects and older individuals might have to maintain working as the federal government is contemplating elevating the retirement age. The submit goes on: “Stay away from homeownership, marriage, children, car ownership, traffic and drugs, and you’ll own happiness, freedom and time.”
Mr. Liang has since moved from Guangzhou in southern China again to his dwelling village as a result of he couldn’t afford his lease of lower than $100 a month. He’s not married; neither are three of his cousins, throughout his age. He mentioned solely individuals with steady jobs, akin to authorities staff and academics, might afford to begin a household.
Growing competitors within the job market is one purpose younger Chinese are delaying marriages, an official with the nationwide well being fee, which oversees demographic insurance policies, was quoted as saying by the Chinese news media final yr.
It’s laborious to belief employment information from the Chinese authorities, which counts anybody who has labored one hour every week. That low bar has stored the city unemployment price at a little bit over 5 p.c for a lot of this yr, higher than in 2019.
Numbers from the company world inform a distinct story. In the primary three months of this yr, Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu, among the many nation’s largest web corporations and best-paying employers, employed about 9 p.c fewer staff than they did throughout their hiring peak within the pandemic, in accordance with their monetary experiences. Some of China’s largest actual property builders reduce their head counts by 30, 50 and even 70 p.c in 2022.
“The next few years will be the most challenging time for employment since the reform and opening up” within the late Nineteen Seventies, Wang Mingyuan, an economist in Beijing, wrote in a broadly circulated article. He famous that round 50 million individuals ages 16 to 40 could possibly be unemployed by 2028, including, “It could trigger a series of deeper crises.”
In 2022, the variety of marriage registrations fell 10.5 p.c from a yr earlier, to the bottom quantity since China started disclosing the info in 1986. The nation’s birthrate fell to a low level final yr, and its inhabitants shrank for the primary time since 1961, the top of the Great Famine.
Age discrimination impacts all older staff, however individuals of their mid-30s might really feel it most acutely as a result of they’re experiencing it for the primary time.
Flynn Fan began dreading 35 when he was 30. He knew he could be handed over for work in a number of years, however till then his drawback was overwork.
At his final firm, he mentioned, most of his colleagues had been both single, like him, or married with out kids. Their extra time shifts had been uncontrolled. For three months in 2021, Mr. Fan mentioned, the earliest he left work was 11 p.m. He began taking anti-anxiety medication.
Then late final yr he was let go, together with most of his colleagues, at a man-made intelligence firm in Shanghai.
In the previous six months, he has despatched his résumé to greater than 300 corporations and landed 10 interviews with no provide. Now he’s searching for jobs that pay 20 to 30 p.c much less. He additionally began trying in different cities close to Shanghai.
At 35, he feels younger. But for society, he mentioned, 35 is sort of a “plague.”
Cici Zhang is 32 and has already been instructed by employers that she’s too outdated. She confirmed a screenshot of a job posting at an organization that sells maternity merchandise, with the age restrict set under 32. One of her former supervisors instructed her that he might exchange her with a younger graduate after three months of coaching.
Chinese corporations wish to chase the most well liked pattern as an alternative of perfecting what they have already got, she mentioned. So expertise and experience aren’t the qualities they worth most.
As a girl, Ms. Zhang faces added layers of discrimination. Since she was 25, she has fielded questions from employers about when she deliberate to have kids. When she answered that she and her husband had no such plans, she could be requested what their dad and mom considered their resolution.
After being laid off in September, Ms. Zhang, a advertising and marketing skilled, messaged greater than 3,000 corporations, despatched her résumé to greater than 300 and landed fewer than 10 interviews. Last month, she lastly bought a job provide from a small firm.
She accepted the job, feeling no pleasure or happiness about it.
“I used to have expectations. I wanted promotions, pay raises and a better life,” she mentioned. “Now I have none. I just want to survive.”
She and her husband really feel they’ll’t afford to have kids. They have a mortgage and barely scraped by when she was out of labor, whereas worrying that he, too, might lose his job.
Their anxieties make them wonder if it’s even honest to have kids. Ms. Zhang quoted a well-liked saying on the web: “If a child’s birth is meant to inherit one’s toil, panic and poverty, then not giving birth is also a form of kindness.”
Mr. Liang, the 38-year-old tech skilled, mentioned one thing related. He loves kids however doesn’t consider he might give them life. Like many Chinese who grew up within the countryside, he was raised by his grandparents whereas his dad and mom labored in cities. He wouldn’t need his kids to have that life.
Besides, he first has to discover a job. Even earlier than the pandemic, he was requested at an interview why he was making use of for a tech help place at his age. He confirmed me the job listings of his native provincial authorities: The age requirement for all positions was 18 to 35.
When I commented that 35 should weigh like a mountain, Mr. Liang responded, “It’s the precipice.”
Source: www.nytimes.com