More than 700 applicants rushed to a job posting in China to hire two shepherds. The job is on a remote grassland where winter temperatures drop below minus 30 degrees Celsius, but the higher monthly salary than typical urban office jobs and the offer of room and board appear to have drawn strong interest. Analysts said the phenomenon reflects insecurity in China's labor market and fatigue with its long-hours work culture.
According to reports from Reuters and the Guardian on the 29th (local time) of the previous month, Zuo Xiaoyong, who runs a ranch near Xilin Hot in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China, posted a shepherd recruitment notice on Chinese social media (SNS) at the end of April. The main duty is tending 3,000 sheep on a 2,000-hectare (ha) grassland.
The monthly salary was set at 8,000 yuan (about 1.57 million won) per person. Lodging and groceries are also provided. If a married couple is hired together, they can earn 16,000 yuan (about 3.14 million won) per month. That is higher than the average monthly salary of about 6,000 yuan (about 1.34 million won) for urban private-sector workers in China.
Within hours, the posting racked up 59 million views on Weibo, China's SNS. The number of applicants topped 700. Office workers in major cities such as Shanghai and Chongqing, factory workers, and college graduates were among those who applied, according to reports. Zuo Xiaoyong said about half of the applicants were born in the 1990s, and one-tenth had just graduated from college.
The ranch is in a remote area near the Mongolian border. In winter, temperatures can fall below minus 30 degrees Celsius, and the job includes feeding sheep and cleaning barns. Zuo Xiaoyong said, "Here, you might hardly see anyone all year round," adding, "This job is not tourism."
Foreign media analyzed the hiring frenzy as an example of China's job-market woes. China's official jobless rate is just above 5%, but underemployment and stagnant wages in the private institutional sector are fueling labor-market anxiety. This summer, a record 12.7 million college graduates will enter the labor market.
Fatigue with a long-hours work culture was also cited as a factor. In China, the so-called "996" practice of working 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week, is still criticized as a problem. The Guardian reported that a 21-year-old man working at a shipping container factory applied for the shepherd job after growing exhausted by the excessive workload. A 28-year-old woman working in e-commerce also reportedly applied because she wanted to get away from city life.
In China, the phrase "the curse of 35" is used to describe a phenomenon in which corporations avoid job seekers age 35 and older. Analysts said the large number of applicants born in the 1990s is likely tied to job insecurity.
Zuo Xiaoyong, who had said he preferred married applicants, ultimately hired two couples born in the 1980s who had ranch experience. "I didn't expect this to become such a hot topic," Zuo said. "It seems ordinary people are having trouble finding jobs."