Greener pasture of a shepherd’s life lures Chinese workers penned in by ‘996’ jobs

When an Inner Mongolia farmer sought two herders to tend his 3,000 sheep, he was swamped with applicants including graduates, factory labourers and white-collar workers

A Chinese farm owner’s recruitment drive for shepherds has ended in success after his job advert seeking people to work on his Inner Mongolia ranch went viral, drawing the attention of city dwellers struggling to find work and highlighting growing strains in China’s labour market.

Zuo Xiaoyong posted an advert on Chinese social media in late April seeking two shepherds, preferably a couple, to take 3,000 sheep out to graze on a 2,000ha pasture in the summer. The shepherds would also undertake indoor feeding and cleaning during the winter when temperatures can drop below -30C at his ranch roughly 300km from Xilinhot city, near the Mongolian border.

The advert stated that the shepherds would be paid 8,000 yuan (around £880/US$1,180) each per month and have their accommodation and groceries provided. That salary is well above China’s national urban average for private company employees of roughly 6,000 yuan.

“The salary is high, but whether you can work long-term and get through the winter is what matters most,” Zuo told Reuters. “This is not tourism.”

Featuring a video of sheep frolicking in green pastures, the simple advert drew a huge response on social media when it was posted, garnering around 59m views on Weibo, China’s equivalent of X.

Zuo told Reuters that more than 700 people applied for the two positions. About 10% of applicants were recent university graduates, he said, while others were factory workers and even white-collar types worn down by workplace politics in megacities like Shanghai and Chongqing.

“I didn’t expect it to go viral,” Zuo said. “It seems ordinary people are having a hard time finding work.”

China’s official unemployment rate stands at about 5.2%, while its unemployment rate for young people aged 16-24, excluding students, stands at 16.9%, according to National Bureau of Statistics figures released in March.

Disgruntlement with the “996” culture of long work hours – 9am to 9pm, six days a week is the norm in many Chinese companies – has become a uniting issue between blue and white-collar workers seeking to escape the rat race.

One factory worker who applied for the role, 21-year-old James Guo, said he was exhausted by his current job making shipping containers and wanted a change.

“You have no idea what it’s like to work more than 13 hours a day, fastening screws until your hands are swollen and covered in blisters, without even having time to go to the bathroom,” he told Reuters.

“The workload is too intense, I can’t take it any more.”

In the end, Zuo hired four shepherds – two couples – who had previously worked on a farm. While he has a shortlist of more than 40 couples for future roles, he says he will not consider single people or young urbanites.

“In our place, you might not see people for a whole year,” Zuo said. “Whether someone can endure such loneliness, I don’t know.”