Freeter in China: It’s Not Free Riding, It’s Freelancing

Posted by Joel

“等我有点儿钱, 我也要当飞特族!” My Chinese co-worker, Tony, told me that after he saves up enough money he wants to become a freeter. Freeter is the word used to describe a growing number of young Chinese who leave their companies for a more entrepreneurial life aligned with their passion. This popular term first originated in Japan to describe 15-30 year olds who live with their parents and work at temporary low-paying jobs.  Chinese freeters typically do not free ride off their parents; instead they live a freelancing entrepreneurial lifestyle.

Chinese freeters can be classified into two groups:

I. The Wanderers
This group of freeters wants to live life to the fullest. They work at a position just long enough to save the money they need to pursue their next quest. After their travels or personal growth adventure is completed, they find a new job, save money and then start the cycle all over again.

II. The Entrepreneurs
The second group of freeters are entrepreneurial freelancers. They do not work for just one company; instead they leverage their skills to work on a range of projects for several different companies.  For example, Jack in this article simultaneously programs computers, writes reviews for software and video games, and compiles computer handbooks.

In Japan, freeters are often viewed as unsuccessful, because they live with their parents and do not contribute to society. However, in China freeters are looked at in a more positive light. Both “the wanderers” and “the entrepreneurs” earn enough money to support themselves and they go through life following their passion. The Chinese government recently passed a new Employment Contract Law to provide job security and social stability, but perhaps Chinese young adults have their own more flexible concept of what job security really is.

—————————————————
Did you like this post? Subscribe to The China Observer blog via Feedburner RSS.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheChinaObserver

All you need to do is copy and paste the above link into your RSS reader (ex: Google Reader) and you will receive the latest observations from China the second they are published online. Thank you for reading The China Observer blog.

Cultural Observations

If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.

Comments

No comments yet.

Leave a comment

(required)

(required)