Beijing Cultural Review of Youth and Blue-Collar Work
Liu Ci and Chen Jia, “Are Young People Starting to Envy the Incomes of Confinement Nannies and Delivery Drivers? A Re-evaluation of the Value of Blue-Collar Jobs”[1]
Introduction and Translation by David Ownby
Introduction
There is a strange and interesting disconnect between the title of this Beijing Cultural Review piece and its contents. The contents are based on a recently released report - the "2023 China Blue-Collar Group Employment Research Report" – which, as its name suggests, contains facts and figures about blue-collar employment in China. The report says nothing about “young people” or “envy,” and in fact the text of the article translated here says little or nothing about these themes either, suggesting that the title is the editors’ handiwork. One suspects that they commissioned the article and perhaps suggested the pitch the authors should use. Often, articles in the Beijing Cultural Review are penned by scholars and are well-researched. In the case of this text, I could find nothing about the authors – which does not of course mean that they are not serious writers – and the research is fairly superficial.
This is not hard to understand. Youth issues – unemployment, depression, disengagement, discontentment – are huge in China, and the Beijing Cultural Review has been following these issues, as have other Chinese publications. This text seems to be to be of a piece with Xi Jinping’s advice to young people to suck it up and stop whining, if phrased a bit differently. Here, the authors are pitching a reappraisal of the value of blue-collar work, saying to young people – or perhaps their parents: “Look, here is where the jobs are. You may have studied computers or sociology or gotten a Ph.D. abroad, but confinement nannies and delivery drivers are the wave of the future.” They drive home their pitch by noting that government regulations and platform policies are coming together to make these jobs more reliable and bankable, less fragile parts of an exploitative gig economy. I hope so, but I can’t help but wonder.
I also can’t help but wonder why the authors of this piece did not talk to a happy confinement nanny or delivery driver, a happy university graduate who decided to become a bricklayer, a happy parent of that bricklayer. The dream long nourished by Chinese parents and students – that everyone would get a good degree from a good university and then a good job – was probably always unsustainable, at least in the absence of another few decades of double-digit GDP growth rates. I don’t know what should replace that dream, but doubt that the blue-collar solution will be an easy sell.
Translation
Recently, a news item asserting that “bricklayers can earn 25,000 RMB (approx. 3,500 USD) a month, home renovators 30,000 to 40,000 RMB (approx. 4,200-5,600 USD), and delivery workers a million RMB (approx. 14,000 USD) in three years” pushed blue-collar jobs to the forefront of public opinion. Many people remain skeptical that blue-collar jobs earn that much, or even if they do they still see them as physical work that is beneath them. At the same time, whether it is hiring people to fix up your house or hiring a nanny to take care of your newborn,[2] people are personally aware of spending more and more on blue-collar work.
Behind the controversy is the reality that while blue-collar salaries are on the rise, their social recognition remains low. Traditional expectations mean that people look for jobs that are more "respectable," which still do not include blue-collar occupations. The prevalence of such views not only prevents blue-collar workers from receiving the respect they deserve, but also creates a mismatch between supply and demand in the job market—industries that require blue-collar workers face a labor shortage, while there is fierce competition for white-collar jobs.
The question thus is: does society’s perception of blue-collar jobs match up with reality? In the face of economic and social changes, how might we re-evaluate blue-collar occupations and blue-collar workers so as to get a better grip on where jobs and employment are headed?
Rethinking Values: Leaving the Myth of the “White-Blue” Divide Behind
The experience of other countries tells us that as the society and the economy develop, the value of human resources increases increase accordingly, and the social value and income of blue-collar work will rise as well. With the transformation of China's economy, a trend to watch has become a broad upgrading of blue-collar employment and especially the rise of new blue-collar groups. The "2023 China Blue-Collar Group Employment Research Report"[3] reveals that blue-collar workers now make up 400 million of China's 747 million workers. In addition, the income of blue-collar workers has gradually increased, and the salary gap with ordinary white-collar workers has closed somewhat. Among these blue-collar occupations, positions such as confinement nannies and delivery drivers have the highest incomes.
While in the past, blue-collar workers were looking to “survive,” their motivation has now shifted to “growth.” This shift is part and parcel of the increase in blue-collar income, the improvement of career stability and security, and the expansion of career paths. At present, the blue-collar service jobs that rely on platform companies have become go-to choices for many people looking to start a business, and industries such as pet grooming, housekeeping 家政收纳, and diet-catering 减脂餐饮are constantly emerging.
New forms of employment are also changing the very nature of what it means to be blue-collar. On the one hand, traditional blue-collar industries such as manufacturing and construction are experiencing a certain transformation and upgrading, while at the same time, new blue-collar occupations, mainly in the tertiary industry, have contributed to an overall increase in blue-collar group salaries and have become more competitive among all the groups of workers in third- and fourth-tier cities. For example, the delivery workers and Uber drivers[4] who work for platforms agree with the philosophy of the platforms that “the more you work the more you earn,” and represent a relatively clear path for income growth. In addition, these new forms of work also provide more choices for blue-collar practitioners, further stimulating the vitality of the blue-collar industry.
These changes in blue-collar reality strongly suggest that our current view of blue-collar jobs is in need of adjustment. In the traditional scale of values, "being cultured," having a certain "knowledge level" or "social identity" all have an important weight, and all point to white-collar or even “gold-collar” occupations; while the traditional stereotype of blue-collar jobs includes an unstable income, poor working environment, hard physical work, low technical content, etc. To shake us out of this cognitive inertia and encourage society to cultivate a more objective and rational understanding of work, a serious revaluation of blue-collar groups and blue-collar professions is required. Similarly, if our society wants to truly establish respect for labor, we must start by looking squarely at blue-collar jobs.
Why might this be possible? A triple innovation in blue-collar work
Traditional blue-collar workers were the builders of cities, an important group that promoted the development of China’s industrialization and urbanization. They were concentrated in secondary sectors such as manufacturing and construction. They lived in collective dormitories and relied on contractors and fellow villagers for employment opportunities. After a project was completed, they left the city. In recent years, however, the blue-collar workforce has taken on a new look, with the emergence of large-scale "new blue-collar" workers. As new citizens of the city, they are concentrated in tertiary industries, mainly the service industry, and contribute to the daily operation of the city.
From a technical perspective, the Internet has reshaped social relations and relations of production and has promoted the continuous optimization and reorganization of blue-collar industries. From a social perspective, faced with issues brought about by rapid changes in the industry, such as professional identity, labor value, and social security, managers, operators, and practitioners are working together to find solutions to the problems. During this process, the blue-collar industry has undergone a triple innovation, and its social value has continued to increase.
(1) A change in the model: New blue-collar workers tend to have more income and more development possibilities
Stable, sustained income and career prospects with room for growth are the basis for the social recognition of a profession. According to data released in the "China New Employment Form Research Center," the average monthly income of blue-collar workers has increased significantly, from 2,684 RMB (approx. 380 USD) in 2012 to 6,043 RMB (approx. 850 USD) in 2023, which is 2.26 times the original amount. Accounting for inflation, the actual average monthly salary of blue-collar workers is 1.85 times that of 10 years ago. In overall terms, the average monthly salary gap between blue-collar workers and white-collar workers has gradually closed, and there are even some blue-collar workers who earn more than white-collar workers.
We can attribute this increasing income to the continuous adjustment of the industrial structure, and the subsequent explosion of emerging industries has given rise to new forms of employment such as delivery workers and Uber drivers. At present, China’s 400 million blue-collar workers are still mainly engaged in the manufacturing industry, but the income returns of blue-collar workers in the service industry are significantly higher. The "2023 China Blue-Collar Group Employment Research Report" shows that in addition to truck drivers, the top five blue-collar earners, such as confinement nannies, delivery drivers, Uber drivers, and hairdressers and beauticians, are all blue-collar workers in the service industry, with an average income of 6,000-8,000 RMB (approx. 840-1,125 USD), which is 1,000 to 3,000 RMB (approx. 140-420 USD) higher than traditional blue-collar workers such as factory workers and free-lance construction workers.
For a long time, concerns about blue-collar work included mainly wage differentials and the frequent need to hound the employer to get paid. According to statistics, nearly 40% of construction workers have experienced wage arrears. This, coupled with the informal nature of work organization, and a wage gap between masters and apprentices, skilled and new workers, that can range from 100% to 300%, undoubtedly raised the invisible threshold of entry to blue-collar employment. In a change from the traditional non-standardized top-down job market, flexible employment driven by new occupational forms includes online platforms for odd jobs, outsourcing, insourcing, crowdsourcing, and other forms, and traditional blue-collar workers also use platforms to organize the labor production process in order to safeguard their wage rights and interests. New employment patterns such as delivery drivers and Uber drivers have pushed for more punctual pay practices, leading other industries to move in the same direction. For example, delivery drivers can be paid on a monthly, weekly, or daily basis, with a settlement rate as high as 93.8%.
New employment forms provide a large number of jobs, increase workers' income, and inject new vitality into the economy, and into social and business models. At the same time, they have changed the employment relationship in the service industry, manufacturing, and other fields. The demands of labor supply and demand have been effectively connected, and the operating efficiency of the job market has been further improved. These changes have enhanced the professional value of service-oriented blue-collar workers and strengthened their confidence in gaining social recognition. Of course, at this stage, different industries have different levels of platformitization and organization, and different specific positions receive different support. We still have a long way to go on this road to increasing blue-collar income and development.
(2) Technological changes: New blue-collar jobs that are more standardized and flexible
In the eyes of the public, traditional blue-collar jobs such as hairdressing, construction and home renovation, and truck-driving are organized through friends, family, and word of mouth, at least when compared to white-collar jobs. The apprenticeship system where “the old lead the young” not only requires those entering into the system to bring with them a certain amount of human capital but is also held together by feelings of mutual indebtedness. This means that there are invisible thresholds to these jobs related to family ties, ties of locality, or school ties. As social mobility has increased, individuals have gradually been disengaged from their original social relationships, meaning that workers have had to face the dilemma of having to find a job and make a living in a new city.
The new blue-collar industries currently emerging have broken through the boundaries of the original job market and employment relationships and have reshaped the original non-standardized employment process into a process-oriented system. As long as you meet basic entry requirements, possess a certain learning capacity, and participate in the standardized training organized by the platform, you can become a member of the new blue-collar workforce. The clear online workflow avoids a lot of repetitive and non-standardized labor.
Standardized employment not only improves work efficiency, but also provides workers with support for their career growth and future development. When individuals seek upward mobility, the platform can tell them what to do to receive a promotion; when they are looking to change tracks, they can build on their accumulated experience. Cleaners can learn skills and be upgraded to become sanitizers and organizers; nannies can obtain certificates enabling them to work as childcare providers, chefs, nutritionists, etc.; delivery drivers and couriers can become hub managers, outlet managers, etc. Career prospects have multiplied.
Taking the food delivery industry as an example, most of the hub managers, regional managers, and catering brand managers at Meituan delivery stations were originally delivery drivers, 86% of them, in fact. Through transparent and open recruitment requirements, delivery drivers can develop skills of coordination and management, the ability to deal with unexpected problems and abnormal situations, and to handle their emotions, learning the ability to chart a promotion path for themselves.
In the future, the continuous advance of digitization will produce various automation technologies and tools. Service-oriented blue-collar workers may not do the work themselves in the future but will need to collaborate with emerging technologies such as AI. For example, delivery drivers and couriers will need to learn to operate drones and unmanned vehicles, or work as safety supervisors, or route planners. Society's demand for blue-collar vocational skills is constantly changing. How workers respond in a timely manner and avoid structural unemployment caused by industrial upgrading will require transparent information and the support and training of the companies they work for. In this sense, new blue-collar occupations, with their standardized operations and flexible forms of employment will provide a provide space for workers to grow and provide a reference for white-collar industries and traditional blue-collar industries.
(3) Social changes: Towards a new blue-collar industry with security and resolve
Putting all of our data together, we find that most blue-collar workers work roughly 9 or 10 hours a day. Some traditional blue-collar work situations are non-standardized, with unclear boundaries, making labor exploitation and emotional harm possible. Surveys of blue-collar groups have shown that there is considerable mental pressure on confinement nannies, truck drivers, and ordinary factor workers, because their work environment is top down or closed-in, or they find themselves face-to-face with their employers, and have no support from other channels. Most people choose to simply live with the problems encountered in the workplace and only seek legal help when their vital interests suffer considerable damage.
Among the eleven blue-collar occupations surveyed, delivery workers, security guards, and beauticians and hairdressers have stronger positive sentiments about their occupations. The work of delivery drivers is characterized by "short-term high pressure," where outside of peak noontime and evening hours, they have considerable autonomy and flexibility. At the same time, 70% of delivery drivers believe that "the more you work, the more you get," and the timely income feedback mechanism in food delivery work allows this group to feel a certain security about career development. While beauticians and hairdressers have a strong perception that their career as "promising,” security guards have a strong perception that their career allows them to “relax.”
Confronted with the dual mental and physical pressures that blue-collar groups suffer at work, relevant departments have successively introduced a number of policies and measures to protect blue-collar rights and interests in recent years. For example, the occupational injury protection pilot program 职业伤害保障试点was launched on July 1, 2022, involving four industries, namely, travel, delivery services 外卖, instant delivery 即时配送 , and inter-city freight transport, in seven provinces and cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, covering seven platform companies, such as Cao Cao Mobility, Meituan, and Lavamove. Occupational injury protection has the inclusive characteristics of social security, and in the future is expected to extend to more industrial enterprises and more blue-collar occupations, such as truck drivers, webcasters, net-contracted domestic helpers, and odd-job workers on platforms, etc.
At the same time, the work environment of service-oriented blue-collar occupations is also constantly being optimized. The allocation of labor tools and labor security materials is also constantly upgrading with the development of the economy and society, including well-organized toolboxes, warm clothes for cold weather, electric vehicles and charging solutions that improve transportation convenience... Every improvement helps alleviate the "coolie" side of blue-collar work and improves the professional experience of practitioners.
The continuously improving social security system and work environment are the most important "B12 vitamin supplements 定心丸" for blue-collar groups. As emerging industries continue to develop and improve, workers on the front lines will also participate in the elaboration of plans for labor. These workers have a better understanding of the specifics because they are engaged in the work itself. How to use such wealth is a question that professional organizers need to think about.
The significance of the rise: the return of the value of manual workers
The application of digital technology and the organizational model of platform enterprises have brought many changes to the urban service-oriented blue-collar industry. Today, service-oriented blue-collar work has become an indispensable and important force in the operation of society. The ninth national workforce situation survey shows that there are 84 million workers employed in such a manner. These innovations have broadened the boundaries of the job market, shaped a more valuable modern service industry, and also brought back the value of workers.
(1) Changes in the notion of “stable employment” when choosing a career
In recent years, the strength of the Internet economy has given rise to the gig economy, making “flexible employment” a hot topic. Flexible employment is not entirely new: we only have to think about all the migrant workers who left their homes to work in the cities in the ten years before and after 2000. However, it was only after the arrival of the new online industries that flexible employment truly became the option preferred by the public.
In fact, the change in the public's idea of job stability in career selection is not only a cognitive adjustment based on observable trends but is also closely related to the improvement of labor rights. Today, websites, social media, and short video platforms disseminate information without the constraints of time and space. Those looking for blue-collar job seekers can obtain and compare information about different positions online and make the best choice based on their own needs. According to estimates, platforms such as Meituan, WeChat, Douyin, Kuaishou, JD.com, Taobao, Ele.me, etc. will create a net employment of about 240 million in China in 2021, representing roughly 27% of China’s working-age population. In the process of urbanization, more open occupations such as food delivery have become new career choices for many young people, especially rural youth.
(2) The return of the fundamental value of labor.
Since ancient times, we have drawn distinctions between physical labor and mental labor, distinctions that concern different kinds of work, not a hierarchical relationship that puts one above the other. In fact, physical work also requires mental effort, and mental work also requires physiological effort, and the normal state of the labor process requires the integration of body and spirit. As the income of blue-collar work increases, more people realize that those blue-collar workers who make high salaries similarly use their hands and their brains. It takes two hours to become a delivery driver, but it takes months of brain power to accumulate the experience necessary to earn 20,000 RMB (approx. 2,800 USD) a month and become the “king of delivery.” In addition to time planning skills, you also need to master information about surrounding neighborhoods, as well as skills in interpersonal communication, emotional management, and handling emergencies. High-paying blue-collar occupations that appeal to young people, such as housekeepers and confinement nannies, also require prior training and a professional, skill-level certificate before entering the industry.
The return of the value of manual labor is also reflected in the fact that many office workers have begun to try it. Early last year, the trend of "light physical work" swept through white-collar workplaces in major cities, and some white-collar workers chose to work part-time as food delivery drivers after work. Setting aside the complexity of the workplace and the uncertain personal relations, they took pleasure in the down-to-earth feeling that “the harder you work the more you earn." Although the idea that "mental work is superior" has been around since ancient times, new blue-collar professions are shaking up received wisdom with their competitive pay, relaxed and simple work environment, and the improvement of labor security. How to promote the re-establishment of the respect for labor in society and the internalization of the spirit of "the more you work, the more you earn" has a bearing on the positive and proactive aspects of future economic performance.
As the times continue to evolve, everyone's career path needs to follow the pulse of the era and technology to achieve continuous growth. The emergence and development of new blue-collar occupations has demonstrated the possibility of accelerating the formation of new professional skills and occupational groups through the reinvention of labor organization methods. Looking to the future, how to further improve the industrial policy system and the social policy system in line with the new labor employment, how to promote the formation of positive concepts of labor careers in society, how to promote the common development of labor groups and society, and how to return the value of work to a variety of occupations including blue-collar laborers, will require us to work together as a society.
Notes
[1]Original 刘司、陈嘉, “年轻人开始羡慕月嫂、外卖员收入? 当蓝领的职业价值被重估,” published in the online version of Beijing Cultural Review/文化纵横, on January 31, 2024.
[2]Translator’s note: “Confinement nannies” have to do with the traditional practices of zuoyuezi/坐月子, sometimes translated as “postpartum recovery,” “a set of instructions and proscriptions on women’s food intake, movement and daily hygiene practices for around 30 days following childbirth. These are dated back to ancient China, and were first recorded in medical texts from the Han dynasty (206BC to 220AD). Customs include consuming special tonic foods and drinks, refraining from going outdoors and limiting contact with water during this time. Zuo yuezi is considered to be a set of traditions congruent to the principles of traditional medicine and theory to protect women and prevent them from future ailments.” Source here. Presumably, people now hire confinement nannies because they are having children further away from villages and traditional families, which have been shrunk over the past half-century by one-child policy.
[3]Translator’s note: I could not locate the report itself, but there is a fair amount of commentary on the report in the Chinese media, see for example here.
[4]Translator’s note: Uber is of course not in China; the best-known equivalent in China is Didi Chuxing.