China has woken up to demand for 'sleep assistants'

CHONGQING — Insomnia has become a nightmare for many Chinese people, so a new occupation called "sleeping assistant" has sprung up to help the unfortunate sleepless masses enjoy a good night's slumber.

In the daytime, Shen Ye, 23, has a white-collar job as an administrative staff member in a State-owned enterprise. But at night, he serves as a "sleeping assistant" that receives orders from an online shop.

Having charged clients hundreds of yuan an hour, Shen shoulders an important task that pillows, aromatic products and medicines would fail to fulfill — to make his clients fall asleep as soon as possible.

"I have been doing this job for over two years to earn some spare money," says Shen. He says the market demand is huge and he "never lacks clients".

Insomnia has plagued more than 300 million people in China, according to a report released by the Chinese Sleep Research Society in 2021.

Shen's secret is his broadcaster-style voice, sensitivity and experiences. He works mainly by telling stories to customers and chatting with them via voice calls.

According to Shen, it is not easy to be recruited as a "sleeping assistant "by the online shop. It requires a sweet voice, a good-looking appearance, a bachelor's degree, and some talent.

The online shop categorizes "sleeping assistants" into different levels based on comprehensive evaluations. Thus, the price of a one-hour voice call can vary from 50 yuan ($7) to 310 yuan.

For 18-year-old Su Xiao, another "sleeping assistant", things are slightly different.

"I did this purely out of boredom and curiosity," says Su. She only charged 15 yuan per night. Her clients are mostly young people who, plagued by work or life stress, find it very difficult to fall asleep.

Su adds that one of her clients, who used to stay awake until 3 am, now can fall asleep by midnight after purchasing her service for four consecutive days. Her service content is similar to Shen's, including chatting and reading stories.

"Nowadays, the excessive competition at work can put people under so much strain, especially young people, that they can't fall asleep. The 'sleeping assistants' can help ease their loneliness and anxiety," says Jiang Chenggang, director of the sleep and psychology department at the Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children.

Jiang adds that this new occupation also reflects how the internet has changed the way people deal with insomnia. Now, more targeted services are on offer, such as sleep monitoring applications, intelligent beds, and memory foam pillows.

Data released by the market research firm iiMedia Research shows that the overall market size of the country's "sleep economy" has grown from about 262 billion yuan in 2016 to approximately 378 billion yuan in 2020, and is expected to reach 1 trillion yuan by 2030.

Xinhua