In mainland China’s job market, an invisible “35-year-old employment threshold” is becoming a daunting gap that countless professionals find difficult to cross. According to a in-depth report by “Southern Window” on July 19, numerous middle-aged (middle-class) unemployed individuals aged between 35 and 40 are facing a severe survival challenge as they include former company executives or seasoned professionals from different fields. This elite group finds themselves unable to retire early and completely exit the workforce, while also facing disruptive challenges brought by the younger generation. Once unemployed, they may face the brutal risk of completely disappearing from the Chinese job market.
Senior consultant Annie, who has been deeply involved in the headhunting industry for 18 years, bluntly stated that 40 is a significant “stumbling block” for middle-aged unemployment, which has become a common phenomenon. She pointed out that even in the headhunting industry itself, 40 is seen as a difficult-to-surpass “age red line.”
Even highly educated individuals are not immune to this “middle-age crisis.” The report indicated that some were former core technical personnel or senior management, yet still face challenges in today’s job environment. They find that headhunting opportunities are decreasing, and even interview opportunities obtained through personal connections are often questioned by employers—they are now seen as a burden due to their “advanced age.”
In the prime area where Suzhou River and Huangpu River meet, opposite the Oriental Pearl Tower, resides “Mr. Lu,” a 41-year-old. After nearly 20 years of hard work, starting as a grassroots salesperson and rising to the position of general manager of a Fortune Global 500 company, his career came to a halt at the age of 40, and he has been unemployed for three years now.
Realizing the harsh reality of unemployment, Mr. Lu has tried to minimize all expenses. He lamented, saying, “Except for necessary expenses like food, I try not to spend on anything else…life has become extremely frugal.”
Similar to Mr. Lu, Mr. Song, who was promoted to vice president in a home improvement company, found himself selling the watch he bought for about 110,000 yuan in 2021 on a second-hand platform on the 160th day of his unemployment on June 15 this year. This day coincided with the deadline for his monthly installment for a consumer loan, and residing in Harbin, he urgently needed the money from selling the watch.
In the summer of 2024, near Sanlitun, Beijing’s most expensive housing area, a 45-year-old engineer and his wife, Dong Lanxin, have been in a state of gloom at home. Earlier in 2024, the engineer lost his new job after only a year and a half, leaving him as the sole breadwinner of the family. Dong Lanxin had left the workforce years ago for child-rearing.
Over the past few years, the couple had purchased six properties, but by 2024, they were living an extremely frugal life, cutting back on everything to save money. The husband used to drive their child to school, but later switched to riding an electric bike due to the rising fuel costs, taking over an hour for a one-way trip from Sanlitun to Haidian.
Dong Lanxin only went to the market when the stalls were about to close in the evening, not even letting go of the split carrots, making sure to use every bit. She said, “During the day, we just lie in bed all day. Who has the energy to cook? Unless the child comes back, deal with it for the child.” Their despondent living conditions are truly lamentable.
The couple inevitably had frequent arguments. Every time they argued, the husband, unable to win over Dong Lanxin, would storm out of the house. But Dong Lanxin knew he would only go to the nearby McDonald’s because it was free and open 24/7. If their daughter didn’t go to fetch him, he would stay until late at night at McDonald’s.
A female engineer, who also experienced her husband’s unemployment, expressed her feelings, saying, “It seems that when we turn 45, we become useless in society, but isn’t 45 the backbone of society and families?” This statement reflects the shared confusion and unwillingness of numerous middle-aged unemployed individuals and their families.
Before January 2025, 47-year-old Sally was the female CEO of a billion-dollar company in China, having previously held the same position in another foreign company. She had reached heights that many couldn’t achieve, often being the only Chinese face in a room of over 200 people during meetings in the US headquarters. However, by the end of January 2025, she found herself not only announcing her own unemployment but also the company’s withdrawal from China.
Those days marked the “darkest moment” in her life: her father, who suffered from ALS, passed away during the pandemic; longtime friends betrayed her at work, and eventually, the company decided to leave China. She disbanded her team, and at the age of 48, she ventured back into the job market alone.
Despite possessing significant assets, Sally still faced pressure. Both her daughters were studying abroad, with the elder about to graduate from a university in Canada, while the younger was just starting middle school in the UK. The high tuition fees became a heavy burden.
However, eventually, Sally managed to find a new job based on her outstanding qualifications and abilities.
In Xiamen, Hou Ge, who had been a design supervisor for a unit under a state-owned enterprise, experienced three consecutive job losses in the two years post turning 40. Instead of staying at home, he chose to go to the library closer to home, as it provided tables, chairs, air conditioning, and hot water, helping him save money. Since becoming unemployed, Hou Ge developed a near “self-harming” fear of spending money. Even when he was hungry and craved a bowl of noodles in the library, he opted to buy two steamed buns instead, as they cost only 2 yuan compared to 10 yuan for noodles.
These unemployed individuals over the age of 40 face massive economic pressure that they cannot avoid. Hou Ge shared that Xiamen experiences frequent typhoons, causing a crack in the balcony windows of his home last year, leading to one pane being blown away. Yet, he hesitated to replace it. This atmosphere of frugality was keenly noticed by his children. On Father’s Day this year, his son gave him a special gift—100 yuan hand-drawn by himself. After becoming unemployed, his son also once gave him 50 yuan, earned through helping a classmate copy homework.
Even with connections and accumulated experience, senior management personnel find it challenging to find suitable opportunities after unemployment. The situation is even more dire for senior employees who have only technical skills and experience.
Hou Ge applied to positions he deemed suitable, regardless of their size, on various online platforms. He kept track of new job postings in Xiamen to contact potential employers promptly. However, despite six months passing, he remains unemployed.
The predicament of these individuals began to surface by the end of 2020. Deng, aged 42, lost his job in the advertising industry. With an impressive resume, having worked for extended periods in American and Japanese 4A companies (global advertising agencies) and as a department head in a local company, he found himself in a situation where he sent over a hundred resumes without any responses. The only traditional company that communicated with him demanded that he bring resources to his job, leaving him at a loss. The only recruiting offers he received were for insurance sales positions.
Hou Ge lost his job in February this year and was unemployed again by early June. Recalling his experience, he mentioned that in May, he was hired by a company, only to be informed to leave after merely working there for a month. In a company meeting, it was decided that the autonomous research and development costs were too high, requiring many hires, and the future workload might not be sufficient, leading to the outsourcing of the project. Consequently, his position became awkward and unnecessary.
His experience reflects a significant trend in the design industry: outsourcing. During this time, his only source of income was taking on outsourced projects. To earn 800 yuan, he worked “day and night” for five days to complete the design of dozens of web pages. However, he realized this wasn’t a sustainable solution as the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was set to have a significant impact on the industry. He admitted, “As I grow older, I cannot keep up with the energy and physical demands. There’s economic pressure at home, and I can’t afford to spend much time learning.”
For these unemployed middle-aged individuals, what they fear most is unemployment coupled with unforeseen circumstances. Their lives are filled with responsibilities, yet opportunities are few and far between. Besides being gradually left behind by the times, they appear to have nothing truly stable to rely on.
The report from “Southern Window” highlighted that only a very small number of the interviewees ultimately managed to return to the workforce. The rest either ventured into entrepreneurship passively, transitioned into becoming self-media bloggers, or continued to remain unemployed.
In addition to their current economic and educational pressures, they also face numerous future challenges. With China’s delayed retirement policy in effect, middle-aged individuals over 40 who are unemployed find themselves in an extremely awkward position. They are about 20 years away from retirement age, yet they have not paid in full for their pension and medical insurance, leading them to face the risk of losing coverage if they continue to remain unemployed without self-funding.