Frustrated young workers are putting up their jobs and annoying colleagues for ‘sale’ online

Work can be stressful most of the time and a little humor can go a long way in helping manage that stress. Adding humor to workdays has turned into a popular trend online for young Chinese employees. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the youth workforce of the country is “selling” not only their jobs but their colleagues and bosses too. However, nothing is alarming about these listings on a second-hand e-commerce platform, Xianyu, as it’s nothing more than a means for tired workers to vent their stress and frustration. 

Xianyu, owned by the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, has raked up numerous bizarre listings from young employees who are attempting to “wash off the work smell.” The so-called “work smell” is attributed to the mental and physical exhaustion they feel after a hectic day at work. It is also a reference to the typical odor on every worker’s body which is a mix of sweat on the subway, lingering cigarette smoke or the scent of an iced Americano. The lighthearted action of putting up colleagues and jobs for sale on the site has become a popular stress buster for the country’s youth lately.

The news outlet reported that there are over 500 posts on Xianyu selling “terrible bosses,” “annoying jobs” and colleagues folks hate. The pricing starts from $30 and goes up to a whopping $11,000. A seller who listed her job for 8,000 yuan ($1,100) wrote alongside the post that “she really doesn’t want to wake up early anymore and the job only pays her 3,000 yuan ($400) per month.” So if someone is interested in buying her job position, they can get a return on their investment in just three months.

“Selling a colleague who is very good at being sarcastic for 3,999 yuan (US$550). I can teach you how to deal with this colleague and offer 10 tips to avoid being the scapegoat at work,” another seller on Xianyu wrote. Another person put his “terrible boss” on sale for 500 yuan and stated that his boss is causing him mental stress because of how often he gets criticized. A fourth seller from Beijing listed a project document that had to be finished the next day for 10 yuan (US$1.4). These listings do not involve any monetary transaction between anyone. Even if someone ends up buying the “product,” the seller cancels the purchase or refuses to sell the “product” to the buyer.

“Someone did pay before, but I applied to offer them a refund and I deleted the listing after. This is just my way of venting my emotions, not buying or selling anyone,” an anonymous seller told the news outlet. “I saw many people selling their jobs on Xianyu and I thought it was interesting, so I wanted to try it too. Selling my job that has no weekends for just 9.9 yuan feels like a small act of revenge.” The online trend gained the attention of the media and the e-commerce website Xianyu too and they stated on Weibo that it is illegal to “sell” people without their consent.

“If the other person’s personal information—such as names, ID numbers, home addresses and contact numbers—are publicly disclosed on online platforms without consent, it constitutes an invasion of privacy and may be illegal,” Liu Yan, a lawyer from Hunan United Pioneer Law Firm, told Xiaoxiang Morning Post, per SCMP. People who leak the private information of other people without their consent are fined and detained for up to 10 days in China. This act of “selling” jobs and colleagues in the country is a large part of a movement where young workers are speaking out against the rigorous work culture and burnout at jobs.