China’s Blue-Collar Workforce Is Getting Older as Youth Shun Manual Labor

China’s blue-collar workers are getting older, with almost half of them over 40 years old, a recent study showed, as the younger generation continued to show declining enthusiasm for working in labor-intensive industries.

The 2022 China Blue Collar Group Employment Research Report found 28% of the more than 400 million blue-collar workers in China are above 50 years old, the highest percentage among all age groups, and another 20% are between 41 and 49 years old.