Feed: Slashdot
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Title: Going To an Office and Pretending To Work: A Business That's Booming
in China

Link: https://slashdot.org/story/25/06/02/0858222/g...

A new business model has emerged across China's major cities, El Pais
reports, where companies charge unemployed individuals to rent desk space and
pretend to work, responding to social pressure around joblessness amid rising
youth unemployment rates. These services charge between 30 and 50 yuan ($4-7)
daily for desks, Wi-Fi, coffee, and lunch in spaces designed to mimic
traditional work environments. Some operations assign fictitious tasks and
organize supervisory rounds to enhance the illusion, while premium services
allow clients to roleplay as managers or stage workplace conflicts for
additional fees. The trend has gained significant traction on Xiaohongshu,
China's equivalent to Instagram, where advertisements for "pretend-to-work
companies" accumulate millions of views. Youth unemployment reached 16.5%
among 16-to-24-year-olds in March 2025, according to National Bureau of
Statistics data, while overall urban unemployment stood at 5.3% in the first
quarter.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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