Sébastien Le Belzic, edited by Solène Delinger 06:18, January 26, 2022
The relationship of young people to work is changing everywhere, even in China, where Generation Z no longer wants to work overtime.
Many young Chinese have therefore become adept at "lying flat" and prefer time for rest to time for work, after decades of sacrifice for professional life.
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Many young Gen Zers no longer aspire to sacrifice their lives for work, as their elders may have done in the past.
They have therefore become followers of the "lying flat" ("staying in bed" in English) and favor the time of rest to that of work.
Revolt against work culture
For these young Chinese, the "lying flat" is also a way to mark their opposition to the consumer society and the culture of work in China.
They thus react to the "nine, nine, six" phenomenon, i.e. working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week, which is not at all in the habits of 25-year-olds. and less.
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"On social networks, people say that we are young people lying down. And that suits me well, it's true", testifies a young Chinese woman at the microphone of Europe 1. "But that does not mean that we I really spend all day lying on the bed doing nothing. And then I usually get up around noon. If I'm motivated, then I play some music. But if I'm tired, then I don't do anything. at all. It's me who decides day by day."
The authorities take a dim view of this phenomenon.
The young woman lives off odd jobs and only aspires to be quiet.
A mild revolt, but which is not at all to the taste of the authorities.
The hashtag #TangPing ("lie flat" in Chinese) is censored on the Internet and the "Global Times", the Chinese nationalist daily, accuses them of being useless and lazy.
The Communist Party doesn't like young people who lie down, just as they don't like anyone who revolts either.