打工人

Imagine dragging yourself to work on a Monday, coffee in hand, muttering 'I am but a humble wage slave' — that's the 打工人 energy. The term literally means 'working person,' but Chinese netizens turned it into a badge of ironic pride for anyone grinding away at a soul-crushing job. Think of it as the Chinese cousin of 'adulting is hard,' wrapped in cheerful nihilism and served with a side of group therapy.

This meme exploded in late 2020, fueled by China's brutal 996 work culture (9am to 9pm, 6 days a week) and a post-COVID economy that left many young graduates overworked and underpaid. It gave voice to a generation squeezed between skyrocketing living costs and stagnant wages, letting them laugh together at shared exhaustion rather than suffer in silence.

指普通劳动者以自嘲方式表达对工作压力和生活困境的无奈与调侃。