Companies allow “pretending to work” for the unemployed in China

About a year ago, Zonghua woke up early and goes to the office and returns to the house late at night, and it seems that it repeats the same routine that millions of Chinese follow daily, but it is different for this tray, no one pays her a reward, and no one demands it results.

The search for work has become, and most importantly, what should be said to people, a source of inconvenience to many Chinese who do not want to provide interpretations, or to expose themselves to troublesome questions from those around them, but in the major cities, parties began to advance the solution, they are companies that allow people to pretend to work.

In exchange for daily fees ranging between 30 and 50 yuan (four to seven dollars), these companies offer offices, Wi -Fi, coffee, lunch and atmosphere that simulates an ordinary work environment.

According to a report in the “Beijing Daily” newspaper, although there are no contracts or heads of work, some of these companies mimic the workplace, as “fake” tasks are determined for the customer, and supervisory tours are organized, and for fees that the “play” can reach levels that cannot be imagined from pretending to be a manager in his own office to represent rebellion episodes against his president.

Zonghua prefers not to mention her real name, and says she was tired of traveling and pressures the financial world, and she sought from her position in the spring of 2024, as the Beijing Daily newspaper told a local social communication platform, and she wrote: “I was looking for a more stable life”, but she did not dare tell her family the truth. Initially, she was going to libraries to spend time, but during the past few months she was paying a monthly fee of 400 yuan ($ 55) for a comfortable place to spend today, and you do not know Zonghua for how long this situation will continue, so she has not yet succeeded in finding a suitable job or activity.

In the first quarter of 2025, the unemployment rate in urban areas reached 5.3%, according to the Chinese National Statistical Office, but the youth unemployment rate is much higher. Xihohongo (Instagram) with advertisements “companies pretending to work”, achieving millions of views.

These advertisements cause widespread controversy, and for some, they are a way to relieve psychological pressure, and for others they only feed to avoid work and delay entering the labor market.

However, it is not easy to verify its real spread, as it is not included in the official records, and many of them work informally, and they are often coordinated through the application of the “Wei Chat” correspondence.

The newspaper “El Pais” visited a site that uses this advertising trick, located in the Shuangjing neighborhood in Beijing, and there is a sign of the law firm, owner Mobile.

The official in charge of offering the facilities admits that it copied the idea due to its popularity on the Internet, and explains that the lawyers rarely use offices, decided to rent them, and practically these offices work as a small joint work space. About “El Pais”

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Practical idea

The founder of a company to pretend work in Beijing runs an active group on “Weithat”, which includes about 300 users, where he shares pictures of furniture and place details.

Among the members of the content maker, Shu Lin, who said: “Although some members need a place to work, most of us are there just because it is interesting.”

At the same time, the construction worker, Da Ning Mao, joined the hope that this initiative “may create a new job opportunity”, while a part -time sports coach, Tian Tian, ​​believes that “the idea is practical, so that we independently find a place we go.”

• “Chinese Instagram” achieves millions of views from advertisements for “demonstrating companies”.