社畜 shè chù
Office workers who belong to the company.
The short answer
CasualNow commonChecked November 2026
Shechu means “company livestock”: an office worker who works late, follows orders and has no time of their own. People use it about themselves, as a tired joke.
In a chat
- 灯灯 Dengdeng
你今天几点下班？
What time do you finish today?
- 琦琦 Qiqi
不知道，还有三个会。
No idea. I still have three meetings.
- 灯灯 Dengdeng
这么多？
That many?
- 琦琦 Qiqi
社畜就是这样的。
That's the life of a corporate drone.
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How to reply
辛苦了，开完会早点休息。
You've worked hard. Get some rest after the meetings.
我也是社畜，我懂。
I'm a corporate drone too. I get it.
When not to use it
What it means
In Japanese, 会社 means a company, and 家畜 means livestock. A 社畜 belongs to the company as an animal belongs to a farm: they work late, attend every meeting and do what they are told.
Chinese took the word as it is. Most Chinese speakers do not think of the Japanese word 会社; they read 社 as “company” and 畜 as “livestock”.
How people use it
It is a noun, and people usually say it about themselves: 我只是一个社畜 (“I'm just a corporate drone”). It is common in posts about overtime, commutes and weekends that are too short.
Where it comes from
Chinese Wikipedia says the word first appeared in Japan in the 1990s and then spread across East Asia. In mainland China, young people use it to mock themselves and their peers about work pressure.
Molly Huang's Chinese internet phrasebook in Asterisk magazine also lists it as a Japanese word that became popular in China.
In use
2 examples每天加班到九点，我就是个社畜。
I work until nine every day. I'm a corporate drone.
周末到了，社畜终于可以睡懒觉了。
The weekend is here. Corporate drones can finally sleep in.
The characters
Explore individuallyIndividual character meanings do not always explain the meaning of the whole word.
Sources
This guide is original Dengdeng editorial content, offered under CC BY-SA 4.0. The linked dictionary entries adapt CC-CEDICT under the same license.