Chinese authorities and companies are taking steps to address the so-called "curse of 35", a discriminatory hiring practice that sidelines or dismisses workers age 35 and older due to labor costs. More employers across the country are easing age restrictions in their recruitment policies in an effort to promote fairer hiring.
中国政府部门和企业正采取措施应对所谓的 “35 岁魔咒”—— 这是一种歧视性招聘做法，因劳动力成本问题将 35 岁及以上的劳动者边缘化或解雇。全国越来越多雇主在招聘政策中放宽年龄限制，以推动更公平的招聘。
In Heyuan, Guangdong province, a government recruitment program announced earlier this month that 355 new employees would be hired for government departments this year. The general age requirement is 18 to 35 years old, but that age limit has been extended to 40 for candidates with master's degrees or for demobilized military personnel and their family members.
在广东省河源市，本月早些时候公布的一项政府招聘计划显示，今年政府部门将新招聘 355 名工作人员。一般年龄要求为 18 至 35 岁，但拥有硕士学位的应聘者、退役军人及其家属的年龄限制放宽至 40 岁。
Candidates as old as 45 who have doctorates and those up to age 50 with senior professional titles may also apply for the program.
拥有博士学位的应聘者年龄可放宽至 45 岁，具有高级专业技术职称的应聘者年龄可放宽至 50 岁。
Other provinces and cities have introduced similar changes. In November, Shanghai said applicants for the city's civil service exam must be between 18 and 35 years old, with the age limit raised to 40 for those with master's or doctoral degrees.
其他省市也推出了类似调整。去年 11 月，上海市表示，该市公务员考试的报考者年龄须在 18 至 35 岁之间，拥有硕士或博士学位者年龄限制放宽至 40 岁。
Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals Holdings, a major State-owned enterprise specializing in traditional Chinese medicine, biomedicine and healthcare, announced in May that it welcomes jobseekers under the age 45, with the cap extended to 50 for applicants with notable work experience.
广州医药集团是一家专注于中医药、生物医药和医疗健康领域的大型国有企业，在 5 月宣布，欢迎 45 岁以下的求职者应聘，具有显著工作经验的应聘者年龄上限可放宽至 50 岁。
"Companies generally seek to hire employees in economical and reasonable ways. That means workers must produce value equal to their pay, or companies may prefer younger candidates who have more energy and cost less," said Zhaopin, a leading online recruitment platform.
领先的在线招聘平台智联招聘表示：“企业通常寻求以经济合理的方式雇佣员工。这意味着劳动者必须创造与薪酬相等的价值，否则企业可能更倾向于选择精力更充沛、成本更低的年轻候选人。”
Cheng Yang, a senior partner at Beijing-based law firm Lantai Partners, echoed that view in a recent interview with Workers' Daily, a major national newspaper. Cheng said age caps are often used to control labor costs, as older workers may incur higher expenses for wages, healthcare and benefits.
最近，北京兰台律师事务所高级合伙人程阳接受《工人日报》采访时对此观点表示赞同。程阳称，年龄限制常被用来控制劳动力成本，因为年长员工可能在工资、医疗和福利方面产生更高费用。
However, she emphasized that older employees tend to be more experienced and skilled, and that eliminating age discrimination is becoming increasingly urgent. China began implementing a policy this year to progressively raise the statutory retirement age over 15 years — from 60 to 63 for men and from 50 or 55 to 55 or 58 for women, depending on the occupation.
然而，她强调，年长员工往往更有经验和技能，消除年龄歧视变得日益迫切。中国今年开始实施一项政策，将在 15 年内逐步提高法定退休年龄 —— 男性从 60 岁提高到 63 岁，女性根据职业不同从 50 岁或 55 岁提高到 55 岁或 58 岁。
Li Xinyu, 33, who works at an advertising agency in Beijing, said she feels growing insecurity and anxiety as she ages in a youth-driven industry.
33 岁的李新宇在北京一家广告公司工作，她表示，在一个以年轻人为主导的行业中，随着年龄增长，她感到越来越没有安全感和焦虑。
"Younger people are always favored in our industry because employers believe they have more creative ideas," Li said. "That puts a lot of pressure on those of us nearing 35."
“在我们这个行业，年轻人总是更受青睐，因为雇主认为他们有更多创意想法，” 李新宇说，“这给我们这些接近 35 岁的人带来了很大压力。”
She added that she has enrolled in numerous training programs over the past two years to stay current and enhance her skills, and hopes the government will introduce stricter rules to protect workers in her age group.
她补充说，在过去两年里，她参加了许多培训项目，以保持与时俱进并提升技能，并希望政府能出台更严格的规定来保护她这个年龄段的劳动者。
In recent years, China has rolled out several national policies aimed at curbing age discrimination. In September, the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, China's Cabinet, released a guideline calling for high-quality and full employment. The guideline pledged to eliminate unreasonable restrictions and discrimination in employment related to gender and age.
近年来，中国已推出多项旨在遏制年龄歧视的国家政策。去年 9 月，中共中央和国务院发布了一份关于高质量充分就业的指导意见。该指导意见承诺消除就业中与性别和年龄相关的不合理限制和歧视。
Cheng, from Lantai Partners, said stronger legal measures are needed to define and penalize age discrimination. She recommended that authorities establish a system to screen job ads for biased age limits, and publicly name and penalize companies that engage in discriminatory hiring practices.
兰台律师事务所的程阳表示，需要更强有力的法律措施来界定和惩罚年龄歧视。她建议有关部门建立一个系统，筛查招聘广告中存在偏见的年龄限制，并公开点名和惩罚从事歧视性招聘做法的企业。
重点词汇
age discrimination /eɪdʒ dɪˌskrɪmɪˈneɪʃn/ 年龄歧视
recruitment policy /rɪˈkruːtmənt ˈpɑːləsi/ 招聘政策
statutory retirement age /ˈstætʃətɔːri rɪˈtaɪərmənt eɪdʒ/ 法定退休年龄
labor costs /ˈleɪbər kɔːsts/ 劳动力成本
D'autres épisodes de "CD Voice"
Ne ratez aucun épisode de “CD Voice” et abonnez-vous gratuitement à ce podcast dans l'application GetPodcast.
