03-15-2019, 12:09 PM
China’s slowdown, which has idled factories and construction sites, is rippling through its offices. Educated, white-collar workers are being hit with job cuts and shrinking paychecks. Even big technology companies like JD.com, the online retailer, and Didi Chuxing, China’s answer to Uber and one of the world’s most valuable start-ups, have not been spared. The white-collar job distress suggests the slowdown in China’s economy, the world’s second largest, is broader than official numbers indicate. China increasingly relies on middle-class spenders who are helping to broaden the economy beyond its industrial base. But these consumers are not spending the way they used to, and that lethargy is ricocheting through every part of the economy, from the real estate market to China’s once-thriving tech sector.
China’s Slowdown Already Hit Its Factories. Now Its Offices Are Hurting, Too. - The New York Times