Think Tank

Why don't they become white-collar workers and green collar workers

2025-09-30   

Rural areas need talents, and people from all walks of life who are interested in agricultural and rural development should be encouraged to participate in rural construction. Orderly guide college graduates to return to their hometowns, capable people to their hometowns, migrant workers to their hometowns, and entrepreneurs to their hometowns, so as to retain talents in rural industries, attract opportunities in rural areas, and further promote a virtuous cycle of talent and industrial development in rural areas. Young people have returned from the village. At present, many young people on social media are sharing their daily lives of farming, running homestays, and live streaming in rural areas. "Don't be a white-collar worker, be a green collar" is becoming a new choice for young people nowadays. As of the first half of this year, the total number of people returning home to start businesses in China has exceeded 14.3 million. There are millions of paths for talent, and rural entrepreneurship is one of them. In recent years, the number of people returning home to start businesses has been increasing, with a wider range of fields and a higher starting point. In terms of fields, it extends from traditional planting and breeding to agricultural product processing and circulation, leisure tourism, e-commerce, etc. Previously, some unique types of business formats in cities have also appeared extensively in rural areas. From January to June this year, the online retail sales of rural areas and agricultural products in China increased by 6.2% and 7% year-on-year, respectively. Behind the prosperity of agricultural e-commerce is the participation of many young people. Being young, highly educated, and innovative has become a major characteristic of young people returning home. Before the implementation of the comprehensive rural revitalization strategy, due to the siphon effect of cities, there was a long-term shortage of capable people and vitality in rural areas, mainly manifested as young people wanting to go out. At that time, many young people had only one direction in their hearts - to go to the city, the bigger the better, thinking that the city represented wealth and opportunities. Under the tide of industrialization and urbanization, many factors have an impact on young people leaving agriculture. For example, the average income level in agriculture is much lower than other industries, and rural public services and infrastructure are far inferior to those in cities. Youth migration to cities is a trend phenomenon that has played a positive role in economic and social development. However, rural areas have always been the production and living places of hundreds of millions of people, and cannot be allowed to decline. Rural areas need young people, and effectively attracting them is an important indicator of the effectiveness of comprehensive rural revitalization. With the participation of young people, many rural areas have become different. Farming has a technological flavor, business models have a sense of the times, and the "temperament" of rural areas is even better. Young people who have seen the world return to their hometowns to start businesses, which not only allows them to pursue their dreams but also benefits the local community. This not only helps solve the problem of who will farm and who will farm, but also alleviates issues such as rural hollowing out, aging farmers, and left behind rural areas. Of course, under the background of urban-rural integration, they can either return home or re-enter the city. What are the reasons for choosing to return home and start a business locally, instead of competing to "jump out of the agricultural gate" and go to distant places in the past? With the continuous promotion of comprehensive rural revitalization, agriculture and rural areas are no longer the same as before, production conditions are constantly improving, and the shortcomings of facilities are being accelerated. The new generation of young people have the drive to pursue novelty and the expectation of self realization, and their thoughts have changed. "As long as they can achieve themselves, there is no need to care about urban and rural areas. The competition in the city is fierce, and the countryside is a new track. Since there is an opportunity, why not come back. It can be seen that young people returning to their hometowns for entrepreneurship are influenced by policies and local characteristics, as well as market driven and industrial attraction. In fact, rural areas need various talents, not just young people. Farmers are the main body of rural construction, but relying solely on left behind farmers is no longer sufficient to meet the requirements of high-quality rural development, and fresh blood must be injected. Encourage people to return to their hometowns and start businesses, without discrimination based on academic qualifications or professional exclusion. It is necessary to involve individuals from all walks of life who are interested in agricultural and rural development. Orderly guide college graduates to return to their hometowns, capable people to their hometowns, migrant workers to their hometowns, and entrepreneurs to their hometowns, help them solve their worries, make entrepreneurs willing to invest in their hometowns, provide migrant workers with conditions for local employment, motivate college students to return to their hometowns to start businesses, and give retirees the opportunity to unleash their potential. Entrepreneurship and innovation are not easy, and returning home to start a business is even more difficult. Only by planting wutong trees can we bring back the "Golden Phoenix". For local communities, attracting capable people to return to their hometowns requires providing good public services and stabilizing people's expectations. In Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province, the "Rural Entrepreneurship Park Without Walls" has become an internet celebrity, with its main focus on "entrepreneurship parks without walls, entrepreneurial projects without boundaries, no differences in entrepreneurial policies, and no blind spots in entrepreneurial services". Various regions should further support rural public services, continuously improve the appearance of villages, optimize the rural business environment, and provide a good soil for innovation and entrepreneurship. At present, a virtuous cycle of rural talent and industrial development has been initially formed, which has reversed the previous dilemma of "talent loss" in rural areas. However, the revitalization of rural talents is a long-term and gradual process. To retain people in rural industries and attract opportunities in rural areas, so that they have dignity in farming, a platform for work, rewards for success, and guarantees for failure. (New Society)

Edit:Luo yu Responsible editor:Wang er dong

Source:ECONOMIC DAILY

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