Intervention from the very top indicates top level concern because the leadership knows better: the years of stable employment that drove China's economic promise is under strain.

Young people are increasingly walking away from the idea of permanent jobs not because they prefer flexibility, but because stability itself is becoming harder to find. A slowing economy, rising competition, and limited upward mobility have left many with few viable options.

According to The Wall Street Journal,China's gig workforce has surged dramatically as the economy slows. Millions are turning to 'flexible employment', meaning unstable, contract-free work with little security.

These gig workers routinely endure 14-hour shifts to earn modest monthly incomes, while per-delivery pay continues to fall under intense competition. China's digital platforms present gig work as an opportunity. The reality is more complex.

On platforms like Xianyu, China's largest consumer-to-consumer (C2C) second-hand marketplace operated by Alibaba Group, used goods of every kind, from clothes to electronics are bought and sold.

You can even find young people offering late-night chats to help catch cheating partners, walking dogs, taking out trash and picking kids up from school or to supervise your study habits. Some even brand themselves as do-anything shops, claiming they'll take on any task you don't want to do.

Forget young people, even professionals in traditionally respected fields are being pulled into the same gig system. Chinese social media has been rife with reports about doctors seeing incomes fall by 30 to 40 per cent, with bonuses reduced or delayed.

As a result, many doctors are taking on second jobs like delivering food, to make ends meet.

A South China Morning Post report said doctors are turning to delivery work to cover mortgages and support families.