Why this "Involuted" Generation of Young Chinese Are "Lying Flat"

Alex Zhang has been working at one of China's leading telecommunication companies for two years. A 26-year-old male engineering worker. What he has to say about his company is not exactly flattering.

張先生已經(jīng)在國(guó)內(nèi)一家行業(yè)領(lǐng)先的電信公司工作了兩年。他是一名26歲的男性工程員工。他對(duì)自己公司的評(píng)價(jià)并不盡如人意。

He is of the belief that the working environment at his company has become stagnant. That is despite the fact that his co-workers are staying later and later in the office, sending more and more project updates in group chats after hours, and volunteering more frequently to work on weekends.

他認(rèn)為，他的公司的工作環(huán)境已經(jīng)變得停滯不前。盡管他的同事們?cè)谵k公室呆得越來越晚，下班后在群聊中發(fā)送越來越多的項(xiàng)目更新，并且更頻繁地自愿在周末工作，但這是事實(shí)。

Everyone seems to be busier.

每個(gè)人似乎都更忙了。

The act of appearing busy is now as important as actually being busy in China. One of the biggest factors that managers in companies around China are taking into account when deciding whether someone can get a promotion or not is work performance. However, according to Zhang, at his company it "literally just equals longer working hours."

在國(guó)內(nèi)，看起來很忙和實(shí)際很忙一樣重要。國(guó)內(nèi)各地公司的經(jīng)理在決定某人是否能得到晉升時(shí)，考慮的最大因素之一是工作表現(xiàn)。然而，據(jù)張先生說，在他的公司，這“簡(jiǎn)直就等于更長(zhǎng)的工作時(shí)間”。

"Busy, but not fulfilled," Zhang says about his daily work schedule, before adding, "demanding bosses are glad to see everybody become increasingly devoted to their job. However, what other values have been created by this attitude?"

“忙碌，但不充實(shí)，”張說起他的日常工作安排，然后補(bǔ)充說，“苛刻的老板們很高興看到每個(gè)人都變得越來越專注于他們的工作。然而，這種態(tài)度還創(chuàng)造了什么其他價(jià)值？”

Zhang said, "At first people would try to reach their full potential, but there is always a threshold at which a higher number of working hours doesn't mean a higher performance anymore, but will only bring anxiety and stress."

張說："起初人們會(huì)努力發(fā)揮自己的全部潛力，但總有一個(gè)門檻，在這個(gè)門檻上，更多的工作時(shí)間并不意味著更高的業(yè)績(jī)了，而只會(huì)帶來焦慮和壓力。"

"On the other hand, as some people realize they have to stay overtime anyways, they slack off work during the day."

“另一方面，由于一些人意識(shí)到他們無論如何都要保持加班，他們?cè)诎滋炀蜁?huì)懈怠工作?！?/p>

2026年3月6日于經(jīng)典龍?jiān)?/p>