Aussteiger: „Nackt kündigen“: Junge Chinesen entfliehen dem hohen Druck im Job

In July 2025, 31-year-old Huihui resigned from her well-paying job as a math teacher at a private school in Chongqing, China. She had been working from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., including weekends, for seven years. Huihui explained she was tired of the monotony, stating, "I don't like this life, where you can see how it ends from the beginning."

She chose the term "luoci," which translates to "barely resign," without a new job. This concept has gained popularity on Chinese social media, with Xiaohongshu (Rednote) recording 3.6 billion calls using the hashtag #luoci. Currently, Huihui lives with five like-minded individuals in a courtyard house near Dali, a city of 800,000 people.

The picturesque highland climate attracts many outcasts, and over 100 million tourists visit annually. The reasons for young Chinese leaving their jobs are varied. A 2025 survey by Zhilian Zhaopin, a major Chinese job portal, found that nearly 35% of 38,000 participants planned to resign without a new job. This change in attitude towards work has been widely discussed, with terms like "barely resign" and "sabbatical year" becoming widely debated.

Many professionals now feel dissatisfied with their jobs, with some, like JD.com employee Demian, citing 996 (working 9-21 hours, six days a week) as their main gripe. Demian, who quit his job in Beijing, now manages a hostel called CYC-Community Hostel, where many outcasts find a sense of community. For the majority of young outcasts, the goal is to find their true purpose, as seen in Demian's popular blog post on living on 100 Yuan a month in Dali.