The "35-Year Crisis" in Chinese IT Firms and the Reality of Falsifying Age

Employees at major Chinese IT companies are facing a stark reality: as they approach 35 years of age, their careers are at risk due to a phenomenon widely referred to as the “35-year crisis.” In a desperate bid to dodge layoffs, some workers are going to great lengths, including attempting to alter their official age. Wang Yizhou (pseudonym), an employee at a leading IT firm, is one such individual. He recently turned 30 in July 2026 but faces a unique predicament—his official birth year, due to circumstances beyond his control, is listed as being one year earlier. This small discrepancy, coupled with the pervasive age discrimination in China’s tech industry, has driven Wang to navigate the complex and bureaucratic process of reissuing his birth certificate.

The Reality of Age Anxiety

According to reports by Huxiu, age is a particularly sensitive issue in China’s leading internet companies. Phrases like “employees dismissed at 35” and “encouraging older employees to resign voluntarily” frequently circulate on social media and in the news, creating an atmosphere of age-related apprehension throughout the industry.

Employees often refer to themselves self-deprecatingly as “middle-aged registrants” or “elderly registrants.” Despite being at a peak stage in both their careers and family lives, they face simultaneous pressures of caring for aging parents and raising children.

In an interview with Huxiu, Wang Yizhou explained, “I understand that layoffs at major IT companies are based on performance and capability. However, in reality, age plays a significant role.” Motivated by his concerns, Wang has embarked on a journey to correct his official age, hoping to gain “at least one more year of grace.”

The Unchangeable Household Registry

Wang, originally from Zhucheng, Weifang City, Shandong Province, was born in 1996. However, due to unique circumstances at the time, his birth year was recorded as being one year earlier in his household registry. After graduating from a renowned “985” university in 2021, he joined a major IT company in Shanghai and has since worked on countless projects.

The growing anxiety over age in China’s tech industry can be attributed to a decreasing average employee age within companies. According to the “Internet Talent Mobility Report 2020” released by Maimai in early 2021, the average employee age at 19 top companies nationwide was 29.6 years. At ByteDance and Pinduoduo, the average age was as low as 27. Older employees are disproportionately targeted for workforce reductions, further exacerbating age-related concerns.

Under these circumstances, Wang began traveling frequently between Shanghai and his hometown starting in November 2025, attempting to reissue his correct medical birth certificate.

The Bureaucratic Hurdles

Wang quickly discovered that the process required by his local maternal and child health hospital was far more complex than he had anticipated. In accordance with the “Shandong Province Medical Birth Certificate Management Measures,” he had to prepare an extensive list of documents, including his parents’ identification and household registrations. He even paid thousands of yuan out of pocket to complete a judicial paternity test.

However, after gathering all the necessary documents, the hospital presented him with an additional, almost impossible requirement: he needed to provide a receipt for the hospital fees from 30 years ago.

Such a demand is nearly impossible to fulfill, as most families are unlikely to retain hospital receipts for three decades. Despite seeking help from the 12345 Citizen Service Hotline and health authorities, Wang was repeatedly told his case was “out of their jurisdiction,” leaving him stuck in a bureaucratic loop.

According to the “Medical Institution Medical Record Management Regulations (2013 Edition),” hospitals are obligated to retain inpatient records for at least 30 years from the discharge date. Wang now pins his hopes on the maternal and child health hospital verifying his information based on the records they are required to keep.

The Industry Reality and the Age Barrier

A post on the Zhihu platform, titled “Where Have Internet Giants’ Employees Over 40 Gone?” by a user named “Professor Tony,” has also sparked significant discussion. According to the post, companies like Alibaba and Huawei have average employee ages of 31, while NetEase, Tencent, and Meituan hover around 29. Employees who age out of these companies often return to their hometowns, join smaller, lesser-known firms, or, in rare cases, transition to other major IT companies.

Huang Xingming (pseudonym), a former ByteDance employee, has also experienced the sting of ageism. “The age barrier is real,” said the 34-year-old. After leaving his job in 2025, he began searching for new opportunities but found the environment had drastically changed. On the one hand, AI advancements had led to a reduction in traditional IT development and customer service roles, often outsourcing them to BPO providers. On the other hand, age had become a significant hurdle in the job market. Some companies only considered resumes from candidates under 30 for certain positions.

Unable to secure an offer by late May, Huang eventually accepted a BPO position evaluating AI models at Alibaba. “You need to save money while you’re young and never stop learning,” he advised candidly.

However, Li Rui (pseudonym), a veteran HR manager at a leading gaming company, offered a different perspective. “Whether an employee is targeted for layoffs mainly depends on their performance,” he said, suggesting that age-related anxiety is somewhat exaggerated in the market. Companies still compete for highly skilled “veterans,” and the real issue lies in a mismatch between skills and age.

Editorial Opinion

The “35-year crisis” in China’s tech industry is not entirely irrelevant to Japan. While issues of age and career mismatches also exist in Japanese companies, the notion of being considered “old” by the time one reaches their early 30s is extreme. At its core, this issue reflects a “disposable workforce” structure that arises when a growth market transitions into maturity and faces an oversupply of young labor.

In the short term, the increasing use of AI to replace human tasks may further exacerbate age barriers. In the long term, such age discrimination risks hindering sustainable technological development and eroding the collective expertise of the industry. While Wang Yizhou’s struggle against institutional constraints is notable, the ultimate solution lies in a fundamental shift in the industry’s mindset and the establishment of evaluation systems that are not age-dependent.

References

• ” 逃离35岁危机，一名大厂员工决定“改年龄” ”, by IT时报 — 虎嗅网, 2026-07-30T10:29:25.000Z (ARR)
• Source URL: https://www.huxiu.com/article/4879465.html?f=rss