Chinese graduates are riding out Britain’s job crunch by running errands for other expats. Some are earning a small fortune
Mark Lin had always dreamed of a career in the arts. As he finished his fine arts degree at a top London university in 2020, he began applying for dozens of roles at galleries, agencies and dealers across the capital.
But the British economy was still reeling after months of pandemic lockdowns, and Lin hit a brick wall. After weeks of effort, he had an inbox full of rejection emails but not a single callback – and he was rapidly running out of money.
That is when Lin decided to take a leap of faith: if no one would give him a job, he would create one for himself.
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Lin, then 25, began posting on Chinese-language social platforms, offering to run errands for other Chinese residents in the United Kingdom – airport pickups, Ikea assembly jobs, or anything else that would earn him a bit of cash.
To his surprise, the response was overwhelming. After just a few posts, Lin was inundated with requests, and he was soon rushing around the city collecting government documents, walking dogs, and even clocking in at university campuses on behalf of his swelling client base.
Before long, the side-hustle had grown into a thriving business. Lin registered a company in 2021, transferred to a skilled worker visa, and began hiring other young Chinese to handle an ever-growing flow of orders. Some months, his income reaches as high as GBP8,000 (US$10,900).
“I never meant to do this long-term,” Lin said. “But it’s incredibly hard to land a job in the UK as a humanities graduate, let alone as someone in the arts.”
Lin is not alone. The Chinese-language gig economy has quietly boomed in the UK over the past few years, as Chinese graduates ride out Britain’s job crunch by doing odd jobs for fellow expats in the country.
Thousands of Chinese international students remain in the UK after graduation each year by transferring to a post-study work visa, which allows the holder to undertake any form of paid work in the country for up to two years.
But many of them
are struggling to land full-time jobs
in a harsh UK job market, where the youth unemployment rate surpassed 14 per cent earlier this year. That is leading a growing number to turn to gig work as a way to make ends meet.
On RedNote, China’s Instagram-like social platform, posts by Chinese residents in the UK offering door-to-door cooking, cleaning, massage and beauty services are proliferating – often quoting prices that are a fraction of the normal market rate.
Emily Zhang, 24, managed to pay her way through drama school and months of unemployment by becoming a mobile hairdresser. She posted on Chinese social platforms offering hair-dye services for just GBP75 and GBP100 – around a third of what London salons charge – and quickly built up a loyal client base.
“I got the idea from social media rants,” she said. “Many UK salons don’t know how to treat thick Asian hair – you end up with broken strands or botched dye jobs.”
During drama school, Zhang estimated she earned roughly GBP800 a month from hairdressing, though she had to “keep it low-key” due to her student visa not allowing self-employment. Since graduating, her income has risen to GBP2,000-GBP2,500 per month – and she is even thinking about opening her own a hair salon.
“This income lets me survive here,” she said. “Honestly, it pays better than most entry-level jobs I could land.”
In some cases, Chinese graduates are also turning to entrepreneurship to allow them to stay in the UK long term.
With the post-study work visa only lasting for two years, many graduates are struggling to find a solution to secure their UK residency. Transferring onto a skilled worker visa – the most common route – is becoming increasingly difficult due to tightening immigration rules.
Only around 10 per cent of Chinese graduates make the leap from PSW to skilled worker visa, according to UK government figures, with many unable to find an employer willing to sponsor a visa and meet the salary threshold of GBP38,700 per year.
But Mirenuer Yibulayin, a 27-year-old Uygur graduate from the University of Warwick, found an alternative route: quitting her office job to open a bubble tea store in East London.
“Office life was stable but not ideal,” she said. “Most companies don’t offer visa sponsorships after your graduate route expires. I wasn’t ready to leave, so I started my own business.”
The business not only allowed her to qualify for a self-employed skilled worker visa; it also proved profitable. Yibulayin found she was able to use Chinese platforms like RedNote to pinpoint young diaspora communities in London that craved familiar bubble tea flavours – and the emotional comfort that came with them.
“This job pays better and I don’t need to work 9 to 5,” she said. “Plus, it’s surprisingly easy to start a business in the UK with a PSW visa.”
But the path is narrowing. In May, the UK government announced plans to shorten the graduate route from two years to 18 months, heightening the anxiety for those still seeking employment.
Eddie Wang, an education graduate, is among those affected. After graduating, he spent months applying for jobs both in Britain and back in China, but he failed to land a role.
To make ends meet, Wang began photographing social media influencers at iconic London landmarks. That side-gig turned lucrative after the images went viral, allowing him to build a business that earns him around GBP4,000 per month.
But Wang still wants a career in education. With that path seemingly blocked in the UK, he has decided to return to China after his PSW visa expires later this year.
“I still want a career job,” he said. “But without internships during my degree, it’s almost impossible to get one here.”
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
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