Buzz
If you're feeling frustrated by the limited job opportunities in the United States, you might want to look to an unexpected source: China. The Chinese government has established a range of unconventional roles to implement its eccentric—if not downright bizarre—policies.
10. Adult Film Critic
Do you have an eye for films of a provocative nature? If so, the Chinese government could have the perfect career opportunity for you to explore.
China employs a large number of film reviewers who are tasked with watching nearly every video on the internet that could be considered pornographic. Some claim to watch up to 700 videos per week from start to finish to decide whether the content should be censored. If a video is found to be inappropriate by Chinese censorship standards, the judges remove the offending material to maintain a 'clean and safe' online environment.
However, before you get excited about applying, keep in mind that all judges must be married. But there’s a catch: if you’re not attached, you might still be able to join, but only as a volunteer. Over 3,000 men and women in China serve as volunteer judges under the Beijing Internet Association, though they do not receive the $32,000 salary.
9. Virtual Farmers
While in the U.S., prison jobs typically involve making license plates or producing braille books for the visually impaired, Chinese inmates are employed in a much more unconventional role: playing video games. But before you start thinking about transferring from San Quentin to a Shanghai prison, understand this job might not be as glamorous as it seems.
It is estimated that up to 100,000 prisoners across China are involved in what is known as 'video game farming.' Inmates work in shifts of up to 12 hours playing games like World of Warcraft, gathering virtual gold through repetitive tasks. This in-game currency is then handed over to prison guards, who sell it to other gamers for real money.
Some of these prisoners are even compensated for their time spent farming virtual gold, earning anywhere from $580 to $700 per day. However, the majority of inmates don’t see a penny of these profits. If they fail to meet their in-game quotas, they risk facing severe physical punishment and beatings.
8. Paid Demonstrators
In a recent event, the Chinese government hired a group of paid demonstrators when over 100,000 citizens took to the streets of Hong Kong to demand democratic rights. This protest was sparked by remarks made by Hong Kong Executive Council member Laura Cha: 'American slaves were liberated in 1861 but did not gain voting rights until 107 years later. So why can't Hong Kong wait for a while?'
As the real protests began to attract media attention both nationally and internationally, the Chinese government sought ways to suppress the movement. According to a secret BBC recording, the government hired fake protesters, paying them up to HK$800 (around $100 USD). These anti-protesters were primarily recruited from the poorer areas surrounding Hong Kong. Buses filled with government-sponsored counter-protesters appeared just as the original protest was gaining momentum.
7. Cybersecurity Officers
In the United States, the most common occupation is retail sales, with nearly 4.5 million employed in the field. Other major job categories include 2.7 million nurses and 2.3 million waitresses. In China, however, one of the largest job sectors is something less conventional: Internet police. The Chinese government employs around two million individuals whose primary role is to monitor and regulate internet usage among the country's citizens.
China’s Internet police are tasked with overseeing online activities throughout the country. Their main goal is to limit criticism of the government. Many of these officers monitor social media and other websites to track public sentiment. Others focus on identifying and blocking content that portrays the government negatively, preventing users from accessing it by restricting IP addresses. The ultimate aim of the Internet police is to prevent any online efforts to organize or voice opposition to the Chinese government, similar to events seen in countries like Egypt and Libya.
The Internet police maintain a list of blacklisted keywords and search terms. If a term like 'Dalai Lama' is entered into a Chinese search engine, it is immediately flagged, censored, and the search results are blocked. Additionally, if a website hosted on a Chinese server contains any of these restricted terms, the site owner will receive a warning from the Internet police, demanding the removal of the keywords or face having the server shut down, taking the website offline.
Chinese citizens can even be arrested for their online activities. For example, in 2008, a Chinese teacher was detained and sentenced to a year of labor in a 're-education' camp for posting a photo of poorly maintained schools that had collapsed in a Chinese province. Later, in October 2014, a man was arrested by the Internet police for posting online messages calling for citizens to gather at a protest site in Hong Kong.
6. Ghost Workers
If you love receiving a paycheck without actually doing any work, there could be a position for you in China. It's called a ghost job, and it might be just what you're looking for.
Until recently, the Chinese government was employing more than 160,000 so-called 'phantom employees'—individuals who were officially listed as workers but never actually performed any duties while continuing to receive salaries.
Many of these phantom employees have connections to high-ranking Chinese government officials. For instance, one of the highest-paid phantom positions was given to the son of the head of China’s National Development and Reform Commission. For over five years, he earned $195,000 annually without ever stepping foot in the office to carry out any work.
Along with phantom employees, China is also facing an issue with 'phantom cities'—entirely empty urban areas, complete with everything from towering skyscrapers to replicas of the Eiffel Tower, but devoid of residents.
5. Government-Approved Vacation Guide
The Chinese government sometimes arranges mandatory vacations for its critics, complete with a police escort. When major events like the Beijing Olympics or significant legislative meetings take place—events that attract global attention—the government often removes dissidents from the public eye by sending them on vacation far away from the media's gaze.
A Chinese police officer typically accompanies the dissidents on their free, luxurious vacation, which can last for as long as needed until the high-profile event is over, sometimes extending beyond a week. During this time, the dissidents stay in extravagant hotels with stunning views of tropical beaches, enjoy lavish meals—sometimes costing up to $160 per meal—and are escorted to tourist sites whether they enjoy it or not.
If a dissident isn’t interested in the lavish treatment, they are still coerced into participating by the Chinese authorities. Dissidents are forced to visit designated tourist attractions throughout their trips, regardless of their personal preferences.
The term 'being traveled' is used by Chinese dissidents to describe this practice of enforced vacations.
4. Professional Panda Caretakers
If you’ve ever observed a panda in a zoo, it was likely being paid to be there and, in a sense, employed by the Chinese government.
This is because China holds exclusive rights to all giant pandas; every giant panda in zoos worldwide is owned by the Chinese government and rented out to various zoos. The cost for renting a panda is around $1 million USD annually, with rental terms typically lasting 10 years and often being renewed after the contract expires.
China also profits from panda breeding programs. Every panda it rents out is expected to reproduce. For each panda cub born, the zoo that facilitated the breeding is required to pay China up to $600,000. If any rented pandas die due to human error at a zoo, the zoo can face fines as high as $500,000. These fines are said to fund conservation efforts in China.
3. The 50 Cent Army
For those budding internet trolls who delight in creating chaos and noise in comment sections across the web, you can now turn your favorite hobby into a paying job. However, you might need to learn Chinese to fully join the industry.
The Chinese government employs around 300,000 paid internet commenters tasked with posting favorable remarks about the government on various articles. These individuals are known as the 50 Cent Army, as they earn about 50 cents for each post they make.
These hired trolls aim to sabotage any authentic criticisms or articles against the Chinese government by flooding the comment sections with an array of well-crafted responses following a structured guide. One worker reportedly received emails from his local “Internet publicity office,” directing him to articles for commenting. The trolls are given detailed instructions, such as using their comments to “criticize America” when possible, and avoiding direct confrontation with the concept of democracy. Each troll manages multiple accounts to overwhelm and flood comment sections across numerous platforms.
2. Organ Harvesters
With a population of over one billion, China faces a dire shortage of organs for its patients in need of transplants. Every year, 300,000 people are placed on waiting lists, but only around 30 actually receive the transplant they desperately need.
Cultural beliefs in China traditionally oppose organ donation. Many in the country consider it improper to remove organs from a deceased person before burial. This cultural barrier has contributed to a severe shortage of organs available for those suffering from serious health conditions.
In 1984, the Chinese government implemented a controversial law that allowed the removal of organs from executed prisoners, even if the individual had not consented. Some reports suggest that certain prisoners were still alive when their organs were harvested.
The organ harvesting program expanded over time. China executes more prisoners annually than the rest of the world combined, and as a result, it developed one of the largest organ transplant systems in the world. At its peak in 2004, China performed 13,000 transplants a year. By 2009, an estimated 65% of all transplanted organs came from executed prisoners.
The practice of organ harvesting was first brought to light in 2001 when a Chinese doctor seeking asylum shared his experiences with congressional investigators. Following this, the Chinese government faced mounting international pressure, prompting them to reconsider their policies regarding organ harvesting and capital punishment.
In 2012, as the Chinese government attempted to reform its capital punishment system by reducing execution rates, the country found itself once again struggling with a shortage of organs for transplants.
China is not the only nation to have faced accusations of exploiting prisoners for organ harvesting. A prominent Israeli hospital was discovered to have harvested organs from deceased Palestinians without obtaining consent from the deceased or their families. The Israeli government claimed that the practice ended in the 1990s, but details of the operation only became publicly known in 2009.
1. Hackers
In the United States, hackers are often seen as rogue individuals masked like Guy Fawkes. In China, however, many hackers are state-employed. The Chinese government has assembled a vast army of hackers for various covert operations, many of which specifically target the United States.
Just last month, Chinese government hackers were linked to a significant data breach in the United States Postal Service’s networks. The breach exposed sensitive information, including the names, emails, and phone numbers of both employees and customers.
In 2010, Chinese government hackers carried out a similar attack when they infiltrated Google’s networks. Once inside, the hackers accessed sensitive data, including court orders related to NSA surveillance of Google’s users.
Chinese hackers also infiltrated major military contractors' systems as many as 20 times in a single year, as reported by a Senate investigation. The breach allowed the hackers to steal a wide range of information, including emails, documents, passwords, codes, and even flight details related to contractors responsible for America’s top military equipment.
These hackers have already angered American politicians in the past, especially when they broke into the computer systems of both Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s presidential campaigns in 2008. Concerns over potential sabotage arose when Chinese diplomats intervened, accusing McCain’s staff of preparing a private letter to Taiwan’s president, which had not only not been made public but had not even been sent.
