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.
张先生已经在国内一家行业领先的电信公司工作了两年。他是一名26岁的男性工程员工。他对自己公司的评价并不尽如人意。
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.
他认为，他的公司的工作环境已经变得停滞不前。尽管他的同事们在办公室呆得越来越晚，下班后在群聊中发送越来越多的项目更新，并且更频繁地自愿在周末工作，但这是事实。
Everyone seems to be busier.
每个人似乎都更忙了。
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."
在国内，看起来很忙和实际很忙一样重要。国内各地公司的经理在决定某人是否能得到晋升时，考虑的最大因素之一是工作表现。然而，据张先生说，在他的公司，这“简直就等于更长的工作时间”。
"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，但不充实，”张说起他的日常工作安排，然后补充说，“苛刻的老板们很高兴看到每个人都变得越来越专注于他们的工作。然而，这种态度还创造了什么其他价值？”
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."
张说："起初人们会努力发挥自己的全部潜力，但总有一个门槛，在这个门槛上，更多的工作时间并不意味着更高的业绩了，而只会带来焦虑和压力。"
"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，由于一些人意识到他们无论如何都要保持加班，他们在白天就会懈怠工作。”
2026年3月6日于经典龙苑
