Flexible employment offers new choices for young Chinese

As the digital economy develops, new business models have expanded channels for young Chinese who opt for flexible employment over traditional roles.

Official data shows China recorded over 200 million flexible workers in 2021.

A network anchor presents the goods to be sold during a live video stream in Baiyun district of Guangzhou city, south China's Guangdong Province, June 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Lu Ye)

Thanks to the development of the internet, on-demand home services such as personal chef services and pet-sitting services have become increasingly popular among people who look for convenience and efficiency, offering new choices to many people who want to do flexible jobs.

A young man nicknamed Zhenzai was a director of operations of a catering company. During the COVID-19 period, he cooked for his friends and shared his experience online, attracting 7,000 followers within two months.

He has since become a full-time personal chef in south China’s Guangdong. He charges 198 yuan ($28) for four common homey dishes and an extra for dishes involving complex preparations, while charging at least 688 yuan for a family feast. During the busiest period, the personal chef can earn more than 10,000 yuan per month.

Another man nicknamed Hehe works as a vlogger on the short video platform Douyin, producing videos about his chef services. Before that, he was a teacher at an after-school training institution. “When I was unemployed, I learned how to cook and turned to new media,” he said. The vlogger can earn 50,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan per month by advertising products on the platform.

Some people also work as part-time or full-time pet-sitters, providing door-to-door services including feeding, preparing drinking water for pets, disposing of their waste, and taking dogs for a walk.

On Feb. 25, Shanghai approved a regulation on employment promotion, which took effect on March 1. According to the regulation, the city will improve flexible employment support policies, broaden channels for flexible employment and abolish excessive restrictions in this regard to create more flexible job opportunities. The regulation also stresses the need to improve flexible employment services, promote vocational training of flexible workers, protect their rights and improve occupational injury insurance rules.

Data shows that nearly 90 percent of college graduates are willing to do flexible jobs. Lin Fan, founder and CEO of Maimai, a China-based career and social-networking platform, said that flexible jobs and sidelines are popular among young people.

The thriving development of the digital economy is creating more and more new professions, according to a report from iResearch, an independent market research company. This brings new opportunities for flexible job seekers.

Xu Hao, a lawyer at Jingsh Law Firm in Beijing, said that on-demand home services save consumers’ time, offer convenience to them, especially the elderly, the infirm, the physically-challenged, and mothers-to-be, and create new job opportunities. Xu suggested enhancing management over new business models according to new economic development and employment situations to protect consumers’ rights and interests, and ensure the lawful operations of new business models.