Updated July 2026
What does 打工人 mean?
打工人 (dǎ gōng rén) means wage slave / fellow worker bee in work Chinese slang. A self-deprecating but oddly proud badge for the everyday wage earner grinding through their job. Literally, it means "person who works for a boss".
Hear it explained
A 30-second take on 打工人 — what it means, where it came from, and how to use it.
Whether you're flipping burgers or stuck in meetings, you are a 打工人, dǎ gōng rén — a worker grinding for the boss. Self-deprecating, but weirdly proud. 早安，打工人. Good morning, fellow members of the daily grind.
Example
早安，打工人！
Zǎo'ān, dǎgōngrén!
Morning, fellow wage warriors!
What 打工人 goes with
Where 打工人 comes from
A 2020 wave of motivational-but-ironic memes turned the daily grind into a shared identity. Still used, but the meme energy has faded.
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