英语新闻丨中国年轻人拥抱灵活就业

Taking flexible jobs has become one of the most sought-after career choices for young Chinese people who wish to be in the driver's seat of their careers and value work-life balance. Experts have called for more flexible social insurance programs and stricter supervision of platforms' algorithms to better secure the rights of the flexibly employed.

对于那些希望掌控自己职业生涯、重视平衡工作与生活的中国年轻人来说，灵活就业已成为他们最热衷的职业选择之一。专家也呼吁推出更灵活的社保项目、加强对平台算法的监管，以更好地保障灵活就业者的权益。

Zhaopin, an online recruitment portal, recently released a report stating that youths born after 2000 are more open-minded towards flexible jobs than older individuals.

在线招聘平台智联招聘近日发布的一份报告显示，与年龄较大的群体相比，2000后出生的年轻人对灵活就业持更加开放的态度。

Among the surveyed 20-somethings, over half—51.3 percent—said that they have already taken a flexible job or have a strong willingness to work flexibly because of the reduced work pressure and looser restrictions associated with flexible jobs. However, the platform didn't specify the exact number of people surveyed.

在接受调查的20多岁年轻人中，超过一半（51.3%）表示已经或有强烈意愿准备从事灵活的主要原因是“工作限制少，压力小”。然而，该平台并未说明具体的受访人数。

Zhaopin mentioned that it's not easy to take or keep a flexible job due to the fast growth and development of information technologies and digital economies, which require the employed to possess certain key working skills, time management abilities, clear personal career plans and strong intrinsic motivation to secure more sustainable development for themselves. Employers have also shown increasing interest in hiring flexible workers to save human resources costs and gain new inspiration from the flexibly employed, according to Zhaopin's report. The report indicated that nearly 38 percent of surveyed companies expanded their recruitment of flexible workers this year, with profitable companies taking more positive approaches to hiring flexible workers.

智联招聘提到，由于信息技术和数字经济的蓬勃发展，从事或维持灵活就业并不容易，这要求从业者“掌握核心技能”、“具备时间管理能力”、“擅长个人规划”以及“具有较强自驱力”以实现个人可持续发展。报告还显示，企业对聘用灵活就业人员的兴趣也在增加，认为这能节省人力资源成本、提供新灵感。报告指出，今年近38%的被调查公司扩大了对灵活就业人员的招聘，而盈利公司表现更为积极。

"I quit my full-time job in September last year and now work as a flexible interior designer. I get design projects from some small-sized architectural firms or platforms like Xiaohongshu, a Chinese life-sharing platform," said Zheng Yuan, a 28-year-old from Beijing.

“我去年9月辞去了全职工作，现在是一名灵活就业的室内设计师。我的设计项目是从一些小型建筑公司或小红书（一个中国生活分享平台）等平台获取的，”来自北京的28岁郑元（音译）说。

He said he had been stressed at his previous company and was overtasked even on weekends. "I was depressed sitting at the office from 9 am to 9 pm and quit the job due to some health problems. The projects I now take are mostly based on my interests, and I get much more respect from my employers. Payment varies from case to case, but I'm OK with that."

他表示，之前在公司工作压力很大，甚至在周末也超负荷工作。“从早上9点一直坐到晚上9点，我都抑郁了，因为健康问题也辞职了。我现在接的项目大多出于个人兴趣，也得到了雇主的更多尊重。报酬因项目而异，但我感觉还行。”

Feng Shuaizhang, dean of the Institute for Economic and Social Research of Jinan University in the southern province of Guangdong, said that flexible jobs are usually classified into two types: one is location-based, with registered flexible workers taking online orders but serving in a specific real-world location, such as food delivery workers; the other is cloud-based, with all services fulfilled online by workers usually having higher educational backgrounds and information technology-related skills.

广东暨南大学经济与社会研究院院长冯帅章表示，灵活就业通常分为两类：一种是基于位置的灵活就业，从业者通过互联网平台接单，但需要到特定的地理位置提供服务，例如外卖配送员等；一种是基于云端的灵活就业，所有服务均可线上完成，其从业者通常具有较高学历背景和信息技术技能。

"Both of these groups need help with working rights protection from the government," he said, suggesting that the government could develop more flexible social insurance programs to allow the flexibly employed to receive fairer returns and insurance coverage based on their contributions.

“这两类群体都需要政府在劳动权益保护方面给予帮助，”他说，并建议政府可以制定更灵活的社保项目，让灵活就业者能够根据自己的付出获得更公平的收入和保险覆盖。

"It's also important to tighten supervision over platforms' algorithms or involve flexible workers in algorithm design to ensure they receive fair and reasonable online orders and payment," he said.

“加强对平台算法的监管，或让灵活就业者参与算法设计，以确保他们获得公平合理的线上订单和报酬，这一点也很重要。”他说。

Li Qiang, vice-president of Zhaopin, added that flexible working or hiring will be a trendy labor relation in the future, attracting more white-collar workers with higher educational backgrounds.

智联招聘执行副总裁李强补充道，灵活就业或灵活用工将会成为未来的一种流行劳动关系，吸引更多高学历的白领加入。

Feng, the dean, added that in addition to policy support, it's also necessary for the public to change its stereotypical view of flexible jobs, as many consider such work to be unstable or indecent.

冯帅章院长还表示，许多人认为灵活就业不稳定或不体面，因此除了政策支持外，公众也需要改变对灵活就业的刻板印象。

sought-after

adj.热门的，广受欢迎的