A New 'Contagious' Phenomenon in China: Young People Abandon the Iron Rice Bowl
The concept of the ‘Iron Rice Bowl’ in China is being abandoned. Young people in the country are opting for flexible work over permanent jobs. In the face of tightening competition in the labour market and changing lifestyles among the younger generation, more young Chinese are leaving traditional jobs in favour of flexible employment.
For decades, Chinese society has known the ‘iron rice bowl’—permanent work with stable earnings, full social security, and long-term job security, usually in government or large state-owned enterprises. But that mindset is changing.
Many young people are now more attracted to platform-based digital work that offers flexibility and independence. They want greater control over time, location, and lifestyle. One example is Zhao Xiaoyu, a 25-year-old nursing graduate who now works as a ‘medical escort’ or patient companion at a hospital in Guangzhou. Her job isn’t as a doctor or nurse. She helps patients with registration, consultations, and procedures in the hospital. According to her, flexible work gives her freedom not easily found in a regular office job. ‘I’m drawn to the flexibility and the chance to use my medical background to help others,’ she said, citing Channel News Asia, reported Saturday (23/5/2026).
Through a digital platform that connects patients with hospital companions, Zhao can earn around 6,000 - 8,000 yuan per month or about US$875 to US$1,167 per month. ‘Rather than being tied to fixed hours and a single career path, I’m willing to accept a bit of uncertainty if it means I can set my own schedule,’ she added.
As this trend grows, analysts point out that firms are starting to break roles into tasks on demand, while authorities move to reshape labour regulations and social security to accommodate what economists see as a potentially lasting change in the Chinese labour market.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China shows about 247 million people working in the flexible sector in Q3 2025. The figure is nearly 30 percent of China’s total labour force. The number surged from about 200 million workers in 2021. A large share comes from the younger generation.
Research by the Chinese Academy of Labour and Social Security indicates more than half of digital platform workers are under 24.
Flexible work in China now spans a wide range, from location-based roles like ride-hailing drivers and food couriers to cloud-based roles such as livestreaming, digital content creation, as well as other knowledge-based services including programming and design.
A report published in March by the Jin University Institute of Economic and Social Research and the recruitment platform Zhaopin, based on 2025 recruitment data, found that vacancies related to flexible roles rose 15.1% year on year, while the number of job seekers grew 11%.
Feng Shuaizhang, dean of the Jin University Institute of Economic and Social Research and lead author of the report, described the phenomenon as a blend of platform-based and flexible work, where workers effectively become their own employers. ‘Platform-based flexible work has revived forms of freelance work that were previously marginalised,’ he told CNA.
Analysts say these platforms connect fragmented demand with freelancers at scale, turning non-permanent freelancing into a more viable income source.
Not only workers are driving this change; companies are also reorganising how tasks are distributed.
Guangzhou HUGA+ Health Management, a platform that connects patients with freelance medical companions like Zhao, saw demand for such services surge from late 2022 to early 2023 as hospital visits rose sharply after China ended the policy of …