Recently, an investigative report by the “New Beijing News” on the “Night Scene Job Trap” has sparked widespread attention among the public in mainland China. The report reveals that some media companies posing as “dance assistants,” “artist assistants,” and “model agents” specifically target young girls who have just graduated and are eager to find work. They lure them in with promises of “high salary, accommodation provided, zero-experience training,” ultimately leading them into nightclubs to accompany guests, dance, and even forcing them to stay with high penalty fees.
Many of the girls who fell victim to this trap were simply looking for a “decent job,” but unknowingly stepped into carefully designed job traps.
The report points out that this industry chain even has its own jargon, referred to as “sending sisters,” with a process summarized in four steps: “paint the cake, set the trap, get into the scene, and enforce the penalty fee.”
The so-called “painting the cake” involves mass posting enticing advertisements on recruitment platforms and social media, such as “learn with zero experience,” “monthly income above ten thousand,” “including meals and accommodation,” and “free training.” These conditions are very attractive to many young girls who have just left school, lack work experience, and face financial constraints.
Twenty-year-old Chu Yao (pseudonym) is one of them. After graduating from vocational school in 2024, she worked as a restaurant server, an e-commerce customer service representative, distributed leaflets on the streets, but couldn’t find a stable job. In June 2025, when a company named “Star Culture Media” contacted her, claiming to recruit “dance performers” and promising “learn with zero experience, start working after three days of training, monthly salary of fifteen thousand yuan,” the girl tormented by job anxiety thought she had finally found an opportunity.
The interview location was in a high-end office building in downtown Guangzhou, appearing very official. The company’s leader kept emphasizing that “youth is capital” and urged her to sign the contract. Due to her lack of social experience, she didn’t carefully review the terms and just signed and stamped it.
However, after signing the contract, Chu Yao quickly realized that things were not right.
She was taken to a cramped and crowded dormitory, where her roommates returned only in the early morning with a strong smell of alcohol. Before long, she realized that the job was not about “dance performances” but about nightclub “GOGO,” a special profession that involves dancing and socializing to create a lively atmosphere in clubs, accompanying guests to drink, dance, and create a vibrant atmosphere.
Many girls have been deceived into this hidden recruitment industry chain.
Another victim, Xiao Lan (pseudonym), expressed extreme discomfort with the nightclub working environment. Every day, she wore revealing skirts, sat with strangers, drank alcohol, danced, endured verbal harassment and physical contact from customers.
However, what truly crushed her was the “penalty fee trap” she encountered upon resigning.
When panic and humiliation made her want to escape, the company produced the contract and said: okay, but she had to pay a penalty fee of up to 30,000 yuan, including reasons such as “training fees,” “clothing fees,” and “accommodation fees.” They even threatened to sue her, list her as untrustworthy, and even contact her family if she didn’t pay. Afraid of her parents finding out about her working in a nightclub and fearing getting into legal trouble, Xiao Lan had to borrow money from everywhere to pay the so-called penalty fee to break free.
The report mentions that these contracts often intentionally use ambiguous terms like “performing arts activities” and “business performances” instead of formal labor contracts. When disputes arise, many girls find it difficult to seek justice through labor arbitration and end up resorting to civil litigation, incurring extremely high costs for their rights.
The experiences of Chu Yao and Xiao Lan are not isolated cases.
The report states that on a certain social platform, a senior “agent” named Zhang Wei, claiming five years of experience, is teaching this “business wisdom.” He reveals that to attract more girls desperate for work, simply casting nets on recruitment software is no longer enough. Various social platforms have become excellent “hunting grounds” – by releasing beautifully packaged short videos and aggressively promoting zero thresholds and high salaries. For every girl successfully recruited, after signing the contract and starting the first month of work, the company will deduct 20% from her total salary as a commission for the recruiter. If the recruitment is strong and can bring in more than five girls a month, this commission percentage will directly increase to 25%.
Lawyer Li Ying states that most of these victims are concentrated in the 18 to 22 age group, from third and fourth-tier cities or towns, mostly with vocational school, secondary vocational school, or college education backgrounds. They generally lack social experience and are eager to find a “seemingly decent” job in big cities, making them easy targets for recruitment traps.
Li Ying believes that the real dilemma for these girls is actually the job anxiety commonly faced by young people today. With the devaluation of qualifications, low wages in entry-level jobs, and social media constantly creating glamorous lives, many young people are more easily attracted by the fantasy of “high salary” and “quick turnaround.”
The report concludes by mentioning that even after the exposure of such incidents, people in related job-seeking groups continue to inquire, “Are there jobs that provide accommodation and quick money?” Soon enough, individuals claiming to be “talent scouts” or “agents” will actively contact them.