200 Million People in Flexible Employment, what's that all about, Lying Flat, rat race

On July 7th, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang presided over an executive meeting of the State Council, during which Li talked about the difficulty of employment and again mentioned that China currently has more than 200 million flexibly employed workers. He said that these workers are not only "working very hard" but also "have no stability", and "basic livelihood" is not actually guaranteed.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security show that, at present, flexible employment has become one of the main employment channels in China. Jobs like courier, housekeeping, ride-sharing, delivery, and others total up to 200 million people. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, on the food delivery platform ELEME alone, 12,000 college students began taking up part-time delivery. The vehicle for hire company Didi gained more than 1.5 million drivers in eight months.

However, these "200 million people" cannot be included in the poor population of China because they are counted according to regions, so these people are not counted because they are working on the go outside their hometowns. Therefore, they can’t even receive the small amount of poverty alleviation fund.

Observers believe that the CCP coined the term "flexible employment" in order to cover up the serious unemployment problem. Similar to replacing "unemployment" with "layoffs," "decline" with "negative growth," and "fines" with "law enforcement," "flexible employment" is a "euphemism" coined by the CCP to refer to the state of "not having a regular job and working odd jobs to make a living.”

In reality, the "flexibly employed" are not covered by pension and unemployment insurance, but are not really considered employed either. Unlike traditional employment methods, flexible employment is relatively free in terms of working hours but unstable in terms of work, and should only be considered as a supplement to employment in other countries. However, due to its flexibility, short-term, mobility and non-contractual nature, as well as the legal gaps in the new labor-employment relationship, workers suffer from unstable career prospects, unstable wages, difficult labor relationships, lack of social security, and difficulties in defending their rights when they suffer injustice.

Why are there so many flexible workers in China?

First, due to the withdrawal of foreign enterprises, many quality jobs have disappeared, and a large number of employees who were working in foreign enterprises have lost their jobs and became flexible workers.
Secondly, China's internal circulation economic policy and the sharp increase in the price of raw materials have caused a large number of enterprises to struggle to survive or even go bankrupt, resulting in the dismissal of employees or a drop in their income. This has also led to an influx of people into flexible employment.
Thirdly, governments at all levels do not assume the responsibility of providing basic assistance to the unemployed population, nor do they have corresponding relief measures.
Fourthly, many young people prefer this flexible mode of employment with more free time compared to the traditional manufacturing or construction industry. For many young people who choose to lie flat, this flexible employment may be more suitable for their way of life.

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