Young Chinese Arrive at Work ‘Scruffy’ to Protest Low Wages

Younger generations are very resourceful when it comes to work. In addition to many of them starting to earn their first money online through various networks and applications, those who find themselves in the corporate world are not lagging behind in that ingenuity.

Generation Z in China has gone the farthest so far in terms of creativity regarding their jobs and the salaries they receive for them. Namely, since they are not paid enough, young Chinese, instead of corporate glamour, choose horrible and disgusting clothing and show up at work to let everyone know that they do not have enough money to afford suits, shirts, and blazers that are part of corporate fashion.

Shifting the boundary between elegant and casual office attire can be difficult, especially as the boundaries of acceptable work attire have shifted towards more casual options in recent years. However, a new trend that has flooded Chinese social media is taking casualness to a higher level, with young workers sharing their office videos where they are dressed in their ‘most disgusting’ outfits.

Experts say this is part of a broader rebellion among young people against the rigidity of the workplace and the exhausting working hours required for success and low wages.

The hashtag ‘gross outfits at work‘ has taken over Chinese social media platforms such as Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and Xiaohongshu, an Instagram-like app. There are a bunch of videos where young people film their outfits they wear to work to express their rebellion.

Smell of Work

In addition to the hashtag ‘gross outfits at work’, young people also use the term ‘Ban Wei‘ which could be translated as ‘smell of work’ and is used as a way to denote the ‘9 to 5 vibe’, writes the consulting firm Red Ant Asia in a recent guide to the Chinese Internet.

Social media users in China write that if they wear their favorite clothes to work, they will be contaminated by ‘Ban Wei’, i.e., the smell of work, and that the office atmosphere thus creeps into their personal lives.

One of the ‘protesters’ said she only wears clothes with holes to work as part of her protest against ‘shitty jobs and shabby wages’.

However, the same people who show off their rough work attire are the ones who wear more modern clothes for social occasions, said Jack Porteous from the consulting firm TONG Global focused on China to Business Insider.

He says this is part of a broader trend of showing their ‘complete transformation’ between personal and professional life. Wearing ‘disgusting clothes’ may be the ‘most comfortable’ form of corporate rebellion so far.

– Limited personal time for young people, long working hours, and prioritizing mental well-being lead many to reserve more time for sleep and rest compared to choosing job-specific clothing – says Porteous.

Chinese youth graduate into one of the toughest job markets. In February, China announced that the youth unemployment rate for December was 14.9 percent. This figure, which had not been released since June, excluded regular students from the calculation. And the troubles are endless for those lucky enough to have landed a job.

Chinese employers are known for their notorious ‘996’ work culture which requires workers willing to adhere to a grueling schedule, working from 9 AM to 9 PM six days a week. As they have no other levers for protest, this may be the easiest way for young Chinese workers to vent without directly leaving their workplace.