Chinese turning to casual work to supplement wages amid economic slump

CHONGQING – Workers in China are picking up side jobs amid an economic malaise in the world’s second-largest economy that has left many – particularly the young – anxious about their employment prospects. 

They are hoping that their side hustles can top up the income that they have lost through delayed wages and salary cuts of as much as 30 per cent as companies, including state-owned ones, struggle to stay afloat.

Some are even hoping that they can ditch their current jobs – which they say have become increasingly unstable in recent months – if their side gigs take off.

A 2023 survey showed that workers in industries such as education, construction as well as media and advertising are most likely to engage in casual work.

Human resources executive Duan Ning, 29, started writing short stories for an online community in March when her salary was cut from 12,000 yuan (S$2,230) a month to its current 9,700 yuan in November 2023.

“I was initially feeling very helpless about my pay cuts, but I decided to start on my side hustle as a writer,” said Ms Duan, who studied English in university. 

So far, she has made a “negligible hundreds of yuan” by charging personal subscriptions of about 8 yuan to unlock each chapter of her stories but she is hopeful about growing her readership in time. 

“Honestly, it is very depressing to be working in this economy, given that nothing much is going on,” she said. 

A series of regulatory clampdowns and worsening geopolitical tensions have put a drag on China’s economic growth and dampened business sentiment in the country, resulting in delayed salaries and wage cuts, among other problems.  

Officials have most notably on Sept 24 released the country’s most aggressive measures since its Covid-19 reopening that aimed to promote new loans and spur property purchases.

China’s economy grew 4.8 per cent in the first nine months of 2024, with many economists questioning whether officials can hit the around 5 per cent gross domestic product growth target set in March.

Officials in China have offered repeated assurances that more stimuli will be released to make sure that the country can meet its growth target.

Workers who have to take on part-time or casual work in 2024 told The Straits Times that their motivation stemmed from fears that they may suffer further pay cuts, or worse, lose their jobs. 

Those who are more optimistic said the economic downturn has given them the push to pursue their interests in the hope of monetising their hobbies.

The trend of taking up side jobs, which was first picked up by state media in 2020, had been gathering pace amid China’s slower economic growth.

In 2019, a survey of 22,000 white-collar workers by one of China’s biggest recruitment firms Zhaopin showed that 8.2 per cent of respondents have income from a side job. 

The figures appear to have grown, with another survey in September 2023 by 36Kr, a Chinese new media company listed in New York, showing that about one in two Chinese youth has a side job, with the rest thinking of starting one.

Only 1.55 per cent of 1,941 respondents said they do not want a part-time job. 

For those who have dipped their toes into casual work, including trying to monetise their hobbies, only 15.4 per cent said they have not made any extra cash, with most – 67 per cent – having made some money (less than 3,000 yuan a month). 

Those who made more than 10,000 yuan a month from their sidelines formed 12.6 per cent of the respondents. 

The 36Kr survey had gone viral on Chinese social media earlier in October, making it to one of Weibo’s list of hottest searches.

A hashtag on the topic drew 230 million views and sparked 19,000 discussion threads.

Netizens said the high number of people trying out casual jobs is an indication of the severe anxiety they are facing at work.

“Even if I’m at work, I would try to see if I can find any good deals online, such as trying for a pre-order of the latest smartphone or a ticket for a popular concert, so I can resell the items later at a higher price,” said a Weibo user from Shanghai.

“It beats sitting by and doing nothing, while my salary gets cut,” the user added.

Dr Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Natixis, a French investment banking company, in Hong Kong told ST that the trend of workers in China taking on extra work comes as they become increasingly underemployed due to the economic slowdown.

She said that more workers are having their hours cut or being put on unpaid leave, which has resulted in them looking for casual work.

“This trend is massive,” Dr Garcia-Herrero said, pointing to estimates that showed, for example, the manufacturing sector cutting one-third of working hours. 

Official statistics showed that overall, the number of average weekly hours logged by workers fell 0.3 hours for the first nine months in 2024, compared with the same period in 2023.

The number of weekly hours logged by workers hit 49 hours in December 2023 – a record high. 

Still, the trend may be limited to workers in the private sector, as those holding government jobs may fear that having a casual job could overlap with their main occupation, subjecting them to corruption charges, she said.

Professor Lawrence Loh at the National University of Singapore Business School said that workers turning to casual work is a boon for companies amid the slowing economy.

“Businesses do not have to be stuck with full-time headcounts and pay for job benefits like healthcare or insurance,” he said.

Meanwhile, workers – aided by technology – can do the freelance work on their own time, added Prof Loh, who is director of the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at the university.

“More often, the participation in the gig economy or freelance work is for the job seeker to tide over the hard times until the economy gets better,” Prof Loh, who teaches Chinese corporate governance, added.

The most popular types of work are content creation for social media platforms, e-commerce selling and setting up stalls, the survey showed, with the most profitable ones being e-commerce selling, tutoring, and writing online novels. 

Mr Jimmy Fu, who works in a state-owned enterprise in Beijing, is working towards being a certified translator to supplement his income that had been reduced by about 2,000 yuan – or 30 per cent of his pay – since May. 

“This way, I can organise private tours for overseas visitors on weekends and work on freelance translation projects after work,” Mr Fu, 27, said. 

“If it takes off, then I really might consider doing translation work full-time because I’m worried that I will lose my job, given the poor economy,” he added.