It seems China’s got a little labor problem: they have tons of factory jobs and nobody to fill them. The New York Times found the country full of educated Chinese workers who have figured out manual labor sucks and are refusing to work in factories. Instead, Chinese college graduates, whose numbers have quadrupled every year for the past decade, are holding out for low-paying, yet cushier, office jobs that won’t sully their hands. With an economy completely based on manufacturing everything in the world, this has led to a shortage of blue-collar workers and rising salaries. This is great news for us, because now we can take the jobs the Chinese don’t want.
If you’re not totally convinced about hopping a plane to Guangzhou and signing up with the local Foxconn affiliate, check out the benefits:
1. Starting pay around $635 per month
2. Free apartment (with only one roommate and no cats or dancing!)
3. Much improved manual dexterity
4. Tons of local Chinese restaurants
5. Nap time, which I desperately need after lunch every day.
So how can all these workers afford to not work? Yup, they’re being subsidized by their parents. Turns out the Millennial sense of unearned entitlement and approbation persists even under oppressive Communist regimes. (It must come standard with totally useless degrees). We give it two years before the Chinese Lena Dunham makes a show about getting laid off from her internship at the state news service and learning to reconcile life, love, and blind obedience to the politburo.
Follow @conaldarcy to the promised land of Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone