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Lao Bai, 34, received the first hint that his position at short video app Kuaishou might be in jeopardy when a 35-year-old colleague was fired.
“I was both shocked and anxious. I realized that our situations were very similar and that the same thing might happen to me in the near future,” she said, in order to avoid repercussions from her former employer. said Laobai, who used his nickname.
Just a few months after his 35th birthday, the developer was fired, becoming another victim of the group reorganization known internally as “Limestone.”. Kuaisho is pushing out younger employees in their mid-30s, according to five people with direct knowledge of Limestone, including current and former employees. Mr Laobai was told that the layoffs were part of a company-wide retrenchment program. Kuaishou declined to comment.
The so-called “35-year-old curse” has long plagued white-collar workers in all professions, with older employees widely perceived to be less willing to endure long hours due to family responsibilities.
Tens of thousands of jobs have been cut in the past few months as China’s tech industry reels from a government crackdown and economic slowdown, with older workers seen as particularly vulnerable. Tech companies have made no secret of their preference for young and unmarried workers.
“Age discrimination in the technology industry is a big problem. There is a perception that older workers can’t keep up with the latest technological developments, don’t have the energy to continue doing hard labor, and are paid too much,” said Yang Baoquan, a Beijing-based labor lawyer. he said.
China’s labor law prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of attributes such as ethnicity, gender and religion, but does not explicitly mention age. But Yang said the law is interpreted more broadly by some to prohibit discrimination against older people, and employers do not explicitly cite age as a reason for termination.
Chinese tech executives have long publicly expressed a preference for younger workers. In 2019, Tencent President Martin Lau announced plans to reshuffle 10 percent of the company’s managers, saying, “Their jobs will be taken over by more passionate, younger talent and new colleagues.” Ta. In an internal letter, also published in 2019, Baidu CEO Robin Li said the company would “rejuvenate its workforce by recruiting more workers born after 1980 and 1990.” announced the company’s plans.
This mindset is deeply embedded in most technology companies.
“Between the ages of 20 and 30, most people are full of energy. You’re more motivated to move forward and sacrifice yourself for the company. But when you become a parent, your body starts to age. So how are you going to keep to the 996 schedule?” said a former Meituan sales manager, referring to China’s high-tech industry’s notorious work routine of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week.
ByteDance, which runs the video app TikTok, and e-commerce giant Pinduoduo have the youngest talent pools among Chinese tech companies, data shows. The average age of employees is 27 years old, according to professional networking site Maimai’s latest figures for 2020. Maimai data also suggests that the average age of staff at Kuaishou is 28 years old, compared to 33 years old at ride-hailing app DiDi. According to the China National Trade Union Confederation, the average age of workers in China is 38.3 years old.
This trend will only intensify as the economic slowdown and regulatory concerns lead to layoffs in the tech industry.
According to its latest financial report, Kuaishou, whose stock price has fallen 88% since listing in Hong Kong in 2021, has reduced its overall headcount from December 2021, when it had 28,000 employees, to June 2023. reduced by 16%.
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“The tech sector expanded too quickly before the pandemic, but then the government crackdown started. We are now cutting back on costly layers of management,” said a manager at another internet company. Told.
The 35-year-old curse is a source of great anxiety for people working in the technology industry. According to a survey conducted last year by recruitment platform Lagou Zhaopin, 87% of programmers are “seriously worried” that they will be fired or not be able to find a new job after turning 35. got it.
Yang said people over 35 have difficulty finding new jobs after losing their jobs.
Many branches of the civil service in China restrict entrance examinations to those under 35 years of age. Job advertisements for staff in the service sector, including restaurants and hotels, also seek young applicants. This leaves little recourse for a tech worker in his 30s who wants to change jobs or find temporary temporary employment between terms.
A 38-year-old programmer who was recently laid off from a large car rental group said it was difficult to find a new job. “The job market is very bad, even worse than last year, especially for older engineers like me,” he said.
After all, Laobai considers himself one of the lucky few.
“I have two children, and my wife is no longer working. At the time, another technology company had an opening for a management position, and I was lucky enough to get it. If I hadn’t had this opportunity, I would have lost my job like many former Kaisho employees.
Additional reporting by Ryan McMorrow and Nian Liu in Beijing
