Chinese workers are finding creative ways to relieve work stress.
A hilarious trend that is sweeping China’s youth workforce is that they are coming up with inventive ways to decompress from work. People are ingeniously “selling” their jobs, bosses, or coworkers on Xianyu, Alibaba’s well-known second-hand e-commerce platform, according to the South China Morning Post.
This non-traditional approach provides workers with a humorous means of “washing off” the mental and physical fatigue that comes with their jobs-often referred to as the “work smell.”
As with the smells of sweat, cigarette smoke, or coffee during commuting and office hours, the phrase captures the sense of exhaustion and stress that follows a demanding day. This trend shows how Chinese workers are increasingly turning to lighthearted internet activities as a way to decompress and escape from work-related stress.
According to SCMP, a search on Xianyu by the Post revealed more than 500 posts selling “annoying jobs,” “terrible bosses,” and “hated colleagues,” with prices ranging from 2 yuan (30 US cents) to 80,000 yuan (US$11,000).
One seller from central China listed her job for 8,000 yuan (US$1,100). She wrote, “Because I really don’t want to wake up early anymore! This job pays 3,000 yuan (US$400) a month, so you can recoup your investment in three months.”
A seller from Beijing wrote: “Selling a colleague who is very good at being sarcastic for 3,999 yuan (US$550). I can teach you how to deal with this colleague and offer 10 tips to avoid being the scapegoat at work.”
Someone else listed his “terrible boss” for 500 yuan, claiming that their personalities clashed and that the boss frequently criticised him, causing significant mental stress. Another seller from Beijing listed a project document that needed to be completed that night for 10 yuan (US$1.4), reported the news outlet.
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