On a recent Thursday afternoon, around five or six young people were busily preparing for an evening event at a street-side restaurant in Hangzhou, capital of China’s eastern Zhejiang province, celebrating the major renovation of the steamed bun eatery that had opened eight months earlier.
Advertisement
The Ummy Mummy bun restaurant stands out from traditional establishments with its beer bar at the entrance and buns with unique fillings, such as pig intestines. But it was the founders – four former colleagues laid off by Alibaba Group Holding – who propelled its rise to prominence on Chinese social media.
While lay-offs are common in big tech companies during business adjustments, few opt to leave the industry entirely to open a restaurant. The founders, who were all terminated around the same time last year after spending at least five years at Alibaba, wanted to embark on a new chapter in their 30s, according to co-founder and store manager Xie Chenxi.
“The attention we’ve received is encouraging,” Xie said in a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba. “Many view being laid off as a setback, but we’ve shown that there are many possibilities beyond working hard at large companies.”
Their story exemplifies how some employees at major Chinese tech firms are choosing to break free from the cycle of neijuan, or “involution”, which refers to the kind of cutthroat competition that is common in China and often results in diminishing returns and stagnation.
Advertisement