In recent years, with the rapid growth of the digital economy and platform economy, China’s new employment groups—such as delivery workers, ride-hailing drivers, and online streamers—have expanded quickly. According to the 9th National Survey on the Status of the Workforce, in 2023, 84 million workers were engaged in new forms of employment, accounting for 21% of China’s total workforce of 402 million. Through new forms of labor, lifestyles, and social roles, they are reshaping the urban labor structure while also broadening the scope of urban governance and labor studies.

Practical wisdom formed in daily work

Current research on new employment groups largely focuses on objective factors such as institutional structures, forms of employment, and income levels, while workers’ subjective experiences and everyday life logic receive less attention, leaving their daily labor practices underexplored. The labor practices of new employment groups do not occur in an abstract system; they are deeply embedded in concrete lived experiences. Compared with traditional occupations, the boundary between “work” and “life” is much more blurred for platform workers. Without fixed schedules or stable workplaces, they often “construct life” within their work, developing distinctive rhythms and routines. Therefore, truly understanding the labor practices of new employment groups requires engaging with their everyday experiences—not merely through data analysis and surveys, but through direct observation on the streets, in residential communities, and within online chat groups.

Daily life is the arena where macro structures take concrete form. For example, delivery workers’ tasks—route planning, time management, customer communication, platform feedback, adapting to weather, and vehicle maintenance—require ongoing judgment, negotiation, and trial-and-error. Over time, these workers accumulate experience and develop techniques such as “self-devised route maps” and “customer rating optimization strategies.” Ride-hailing drivers, for their part, learn to find free parking spots during off-peak hours to eat and rest, ensuring they have the energy to accept more fares during rush periods. These details illustrate the labor wisdom of new employment groups: they create order within the gaps of platform logic and build stability amid mobility. Such “practical rationality” is not fully captured by numbers or models.

New identities, new governance implications

Engaging with the lived experiences of new employment groups reveals that what is “new” lies not only in their jobs but also in their identity logic. Many in these groups are young adults who have migrated from rural to urban areas for work. Having long left behind the land, rural communities, and agriculture, their lifestyles, consumption habits, and values increasingly align with those of urban residents. Their aspirations have shifted from saving money before returning home to establishing themselves in the city. While they long for urban life, they also feel constrained and marginalized in areas such as housing, education, and healthcare due to the disparities between urban and rural social security systems. Their needs go beyond income—they also seek space for expression, channels for social participation, and pathways to cultural recognition.

New employment groups are also “new” in terms of their relationship with urban communities. Due to the nature of their work, they are often highly attuned to the urban environment, community dynamics, and residents’ needs. Their extensive reach and high mobility create opportunities for innovation in urban governance. Delivery workers, who navigate streets and alleys daily, are quick to notice crowded areas, damaged infrastructure, and public safety risks. They are also familiar with the spatial layouts of residential communities and the housing patterns of different social groups. Incorporating them into urban governance processes such as information collection, early warning, and emergency response can improve governance efficiency while enhancing their sense of participation and belonging. Several cities, such as Shenzhen and Hangzhou, have begun to experiment with such approaches, yielding promising preliminary results.

At the same time, community service systems must be adjusted to accommodate the needs of new employment groups. For instance, “delivery worker stations” could be established, offering rest areas, charging facilities, and drinking water; dedicated service counters could be set up in government service centers to provide social insurance registration, physical exams, and other essential services.

New employment groups connect platforms and users, marketplaces and communities, labor and life. They are key participants in urban functioning and represent a new generation of workers who navigate the uncertainties of the digital age through practice. Only by engaging with their lived experiences can we truly understand their circumstances and choices, so that academic and policy research, as well as governance practices, can be grounded in reality and genuinely serve the people.

Zhuang Jiachi is an associate professor from the School of Sociology and Psychology at Central University of Finance and Economics.