Over 700 have applied for two late April enrollment positions from college graduate students, factory workers across China to office workers at supermarkets such as Shanghai and Chungking. The post attracted up to 59 million views in just a few hours on the Bristol Social Network and created 21,000 discussions.

This shows that the pressure on the Chinese labor market is growing. "I don't think the post is so strong again. It seems normal people are very hard to find work", Zuo - the farmer said. He revealed 10% of the candidate just graduated from the University.

  • A shepherd at the village outside of Cam Té (Chinese) in September/2020. Image: Reuters*

Analysts forecasting the labour market will worsen over the next few months, when factories face increased costs due to Middle East conflict, AI is increasingly applied and the number of 170,000 million students who graduate this summer started looking for work.

"Reaction to Zuo's recruitment news" also indicates that the labor market is still very competitive and often has a low level of treatment. Work in the city is increasingly less attractive and scarce", Lynn Song - China's regional chief at IING remarked.

China's 5% economic growth now depends heavily on exports, when manufacturers sacrifice profits to win the global market. This puts extra pressure on workers in the country.

James Guo (21 years old) - one of those who applied for sheep - stated that he was exhausted from work at the container factory. "You can't imagine what it feels like to do more than 13 hours a day, twist the screws to the point where your hands are swollen and full of blisters, not even having time to go to the bathroom. The amount of work is too big," he said.

Zuo's announcement gives priority to married couples. The job was to feed 3,000 sheep on a grassland of 2,000 hectares in summer. Winter feeds in and cleans, when temperatures can descend below minus 30 degrees Celsius. Even so, the salary would be 8,000 bad people ($1.178) per month - much higher than the average of about 6,000 bad people at private companies in the city. The shepherd was also given accommodations and food.

Shaun Rein - China Director Market Research Group says that those with master's degrees from leading universities sought similar wages in Shanghai. However, much of their income will evaporate after paying for a small apartment and other basic living expenses.

Zuo said that this wage corresponds to the extreme level of work. "A high income, but the most important thing is that you can make it long and pass the winter. This isn't a trip," he said.

Half the people who applied were born in the 90s of the last century. This is the group that Chinese laborers call the '35 curse'. Studies show that most businesses, including the public sector, often ignore candidates over this age.

Wu (28 years old) is an office worker in the field of electronic trade, currently making 10,000 bad people a month, but still attracted to the sheepwork. "I want to get out of city life and not have to deal with all kinds of unpleasant people anymore. I can enjoy life in peace, separate from the world," she said.

However, Zuo eventually recruited four people - including two couples - were born in the '80s and had worked on the farm before. Although holding a waiting list of 40 other pairs, he stated that he would not consider the single or the urban youth for this position.

"At our place, maybe you haven't seen anyone all year. Whether they can bear the loneliness. I don't know," Zuo said.