Naked resignation: Why China's young professionals embracing this new phenomenon
The difficulties faced by young people in the Chinese job market are leading them to reflect on the meaning of their lives. Am I happy in my everyday life? What am I prepared to accept in my professional life? How do we really define success?
Young professionals in China are quitting their jobs without having another one lined up.
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Young people in China are increasingly critical of the job market. They struggle to find jobs that match their qualifications and/or expectations. While some are scaling back their ambitions in terms of pay and job interest, others refuse to give in. They prefer to quit, even if it means ending up unemployed.
This phenomenon is known as the "naked resignation," described as leaving your job without any kind of safety net. It's a risky choice, especially in China, where 14.7% of 16-24 year-olds were unemployed in April, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics, quoted by China Daily.
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Yet many of China's young professionals are taking the plunge, according to Business Insider. Some explain their reasons for resigning on social networks, including the popular Weibo platform. "In the last two years, my pay has risen once every half year, but I always thought that the most important thing in my life shouldn't be work," explains one of these "naked resigners" in a post on the micromessaging site.
This testimonial, like so many others online, shows the extent to which young people in China don't have the same relationship to work as the generations that preceded them. For example, there's no question of working "996," i.e. in the office from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. Although this system is contrary to Chinese labor law, it still operates in major technology companies like Alibaba, Tencent and Huawei.
