China wants its factory workers to rival the Germans, but will ‘lying flat’ youth rise to the challenge?
- With blue collar factory work linked to poor pay and prospects, many Chinese are choosing to do nothing at all rather than buy into the ‘996’ work culture
- As China focuses on wealth for all, and becoming a manufacturing hub to rival Germany, bridging the skilled workers gap is the challenge
This is the second part of a series on China’s new push for “common prosperity”. Here, Jane Cai looks at the image problem for vocational training that is creating a shortfall in skilled worker numbers, and ways to bridge the gap.
Fan Yuxuan, a trained young mechanic, spends most of his day sleeping or surfing the internet at home in Beijing.
But things were different until he quit his job at an electronic cigarette store two months ago. The job paid 6,000 yuan (US$938) a month but, after a quarrel with a customer, Fan decided he had had enough.
Fan trained to be a mechanic at a local vocational school, but never quite took to it. However, he did muddle along for the required three years, picking up the “hobby” of smoking along the way.
“I like smoking, so I chose to be a salesman in an e-cigarette shop after graduation,” Fan says. “Two years is long enough. I’m bored with handling clients.”