【Epoch Times, May 28, 2026】A recruitment advertisement for shepherds in Inner Mongolia has recently gone viral on mainland Chinese social media. A farm owner originally intended to hire two shepherds but received over 700 applications, including white-collar workers from big cities, factory workers, and university graduates. The unexpectedly popular job ad highlights the increasing pressure in the Chinese labor market.
According to a report by Reuters on May 27th, the farm owner, Zuo Xiaoyong, posted the job advertisement at the end of April. The position is located in a remote grassland area in Inner Mongolia, and the job involves herding around 3,000 sheep. The recruitment ad quickly became a hot topic on mainland social media, garnering approximately 59 million views on Weibo within hours and sparking over 21,000 discussion posts.
Zuo Xiaoyong initially planned to hire only two shepherds, but more than 700 people applied for the job. Applicants came from various backgrounds, including white-collar workers from major cities like Shanghai and Chongqing, factory workers from different regions, and university graduates. Zuo Xiaoyong mentioned that about one-tenth of the applicants had just graduated from university, while others were burdened with debts, engaged in intense factory work, or tired of workplace interpersonal stress.
The monthly salary for this shepherd job is 8,000 Chinese yuan, including accommodation and meals. The work location is in a remote grassland where shepherds are required to graze on approximately 2,000 hectares of pasture in the summer and feed and clean sheep pens indoors during the winter, with local temperatures possibly dropping below minus 30 degrees Celsius.
Zuo Xiaoyong told Reuters that although the salary is relatively high, the key is whether applicants can work long term and endure the winter. He emphasized that this is not a vacation. In the end, he hired four shepherds, two couples born in the 1980s with farming experience. He also listed 40 more couples as candidates but mentioned that he is not currently considering single individuals or young urban job seekers.
Reuters noted that this phenomenon highlights the increasingly severe employment market in China. The report mentioned that the issue of insufficient employment in China is still rising, with private sector income growth lagging behind economic growth in the long term. Both blue-collar and white-collar workers complain about the “996” work schedule, which requires working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week.
A 21-year-old factory worker named James Guo also applied for the shepherd job. He told Reuters that he works at a container factory, where he works over 13 hours a day, twists screws until his hands swell and blister, and even has no time to go to the bathroom. He stated that the work intensity is too much for him to bear.
The report also mentioned that many applicants born in the 1990s are facing pressure under the so-called “35-year-old curse” in the Chinese workplace. Studies show that many employers, including public institutions, tend to overlook job seekers over the age of 35.
A 28-year-old e-commerce white-collar worker named Wu, who earns around 10,000 yuan per month, also expressed interest in the shepherd job. She told Reuters that she wants to escape city life and no longer deal with various troublesome people.
Reuters cited Lynn Song, Chief Economist for Greater China at ING, who stated that the popularity of shepherd recruitment reflects intense competition and relatively low returns in the Chinese labor market. She remarked that urban jobs are becoming less attractive and more scarce.
The pressure in the Chinese job market is also reflected in youth employment data. Previously reported by Epoch Times, data from the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics showed that in March 2026, the unemployment rate for labor force aged 16-24 reached 16.9%, hitting a four-month high. At the same time, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China estimated that this year, there will be 12.7 million college graduates in China. However, official data released by the Chinese government is often distorted, and the actual employment situation may be even more severe.
In a report on May 20th, Epoch Times stated that in response to employment pressure, the Chinese government recently proposed the concept of “a big view of employment.” The report mentioned that over 20 million young people are expected to face job-hunting difficulties this year, along with over 200 million so-called “flexible employees.” In recent years, Chinese authorities have continuously introduced terms like “slow employment” and “flexible employment” in an attempt to downplay the issue of unemployment.
Epoch Times also reported in April that official Chinese employment data for the first quarter showed weakness, with factors such as artificial intelligence replacing entry-level positions, external impacts, and declining willingness of enterprises to recruit exacerbating employment pressure. The report stated that AI is widely used in China, particularly impacting entry-level positions. Additionally, the number of Chinese college graduates in 2026 reached a new high, further adding to the pressure in the job market.