Amidst the downturn in China’s economy, a wave of layoffs and unemployment is emerging. On social media platforms in the country, videos of young people in their 20s expressing complaints and frustrations about being laid off are becoming increasingly common. A young woman who worked at the top e-commerce group “Xin Xuan” on the mainland was recently laid off. She expressed her helplessness, saying she never expected such a company to suddenly lay off employees.
Recently, the popular e-commerce group “Xin Xuan” in China initiated a significant round of layoffs, mainly due to the core online celebrity anchor, Xin Ba, announcing his departure from the live streaming scene.
A young woman in her twenties who had worked at “Xin Xuan” for ten months took to social media to share her experience. She had thought that working in a large company would provide job security and stability, only to find out on August 31 that she was being laid off. She mentioned that “Xin Xuan” was a major company with 2,700 employees. It came as a sudden shock to be laid off in her tenth month at the company. Who would have expected a company with an annual income of 60 billion yuan to engage in layoffs?
As she spoke, she choked up: “The adult world is tough, making money is so difficult. In a few days, she will return to her hometown to seek new work opportunities.”
“Xin Xuan” is a leading e-commerce group in the live streaming e-commerce industry in China. At certain times, its live streaming sales performance and influence rank among the top three.
The core anchor of Xin Xuan group, Xin Ba, has nearly a billion followers on the Kuaishou platform, giving his live streams a powerful selling capability. During his peak, Xin Ba’s single live streaming event could generate sales of up to one billion RMB, placing him at the forefront of the entire live streaming e-commerce industry.
According to various media reports and third-party data platforms, during the 2020 Double 11 shopping festival, Xin Xuan group’s total live streaming sales reached 8.8 billion yuan, exceeding their initial target of 6 billion yuan.
Public records show that Xin Ba (Xin Youzhi), born in 1990 in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, is also known as Xin Ba. He is the chairman of Guangzhou He Xiang Trading Co., Ltd., the founder of the Cotton Code and Xin Youzhi Select brand, and a social media influencer.
On August 18th this year, Xin Ba announced during the annual “818” fan festival that he would officially be leaving the live streaming industry, with his wife taking over the company management thereafter.
Regarding his retirement from the live streaming business, Xin Ba explained to his fans that he was diagnosed with bronchitis at the age of 24, and over the years of live streaming, serious respiratory issues had developed. During past live streams, he even injected himself with adrenaline to continue broadcasting. A doctor told him that his lungs now resemble those of a 90-year-old.
Since the end of last year, Xin Ba had been facing health problems. Once during a live stream, he unexpectedly started coughing uncontrollably and had to use a portable inhaler brought by his assistant, revealing his existing lung condition.
According to sources within the team, most e-commerce online influencers have some sort of respiratory illness, particularly affecting their airways and throats, as a single live broadcast by an influencer could last up to 10 hours. In 2024, the average sleep time for e-commerce live streamers was only about 5 to 6 hours, making it a high-risk industry in terms of health.
However, if a live streamer pauses for a few days without broadcasting, the audience may shift to other streams. Therefore, broadcasters must retain their viewership.
The layoffs at “Xin Xuan” are not isolated incidents but reflect a broader trend of slowing growth in the live streaming e-commerce industry. Due to intensified industry competition, increased platform commissions, reduced consumer purchasing power, strengthened regulatory policies, and the overall poor economic environment in China, companies are leaning towards downsizing to improve efficiency, leading to a wave of layoffs spreading from internet giants to various private enterprises, with young people being hit the hardest.
Tech e-commerce giants such as Meituan, Alibaba, JD.com, Bytedance, and Kuaishou have all implemented layoffs in recent years. Numerous new media companies and MCN (Multi-Channel Network) agencies have faced layoffs or even closure due to funding issues or declining traffic.
According to public reports, in the second half of 2024, JD.com conducted layoffs affecting more than 8 departments; Meituan shut down some delivery stations in certain cities, resulting in a large number of frontline employees being laid off.
A popular blogger, “Master Mei,” with tens of thousands of followers on the social media platform Weibo and working in the training industry in China, expressed his observations. He mentioned how he frequently sees young mainlanders in their twenties announcing their unemployment, struggling to secure new jobs even after months of searching, with numerous job applications yielding no responses. He believed that the younger one is in China, the higher the unemployment rate.
Data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics in August showed that the unemployment rate for individuals aged 16 to 24 (excluding students) was 17.8%; for those aged 25 to 29 (excluding students), the rate stood at 6.9%; and for individuals aged 30 to 59, the unemployment rate was 3.9%.
While it is widely believed that official figures may be understating the actual unemployment rate, Master Mei pointed out that the data indicates a reverse correlation with youth, where younger individuals face higher unemployment rates. He remarked that this reflected a significant issue—despite the common belief that hiring younger individuals would lead to lower wages, their unemployment rates are unexpectedly higher, underscoring the severity of internal competition in China.