Alibaba seeks Senior Experience Officers
Alibaba is on the hunt for two Chinese senior citizens to become Senior Experience Officers. They must be influential in their social circles and maintaining “harmonious” relationships with their children. And have at least one year of online shopping experience.
The aim here is to build a Taobao aimed at China’s ageing, but e-savvy consumer population. Jian Ding, who heads the new channel’s development, says: “We are crafting a new version of Taobao that is customised for senior consumers, catering to their unique habits and needs. Besides satisfying their online shopping demands, we want to create something that helps them strengthen relationships with the younger generation, bring them closer together.”
The successful applicants for the position, which will pay RMB 350,000-400,000 annually, will organise group discussions for their peers, and provide feedback about senior citizens’ experiences of using the new version of Taobao. Within a day of posting the job ad, Alibaba received over 1,000 resumes from applicants ranging from former teachers, judges, police officers to public servants. The oldest applicant is an 83-year-old retired scientist from Hangzhou, who has an engineering degree from Tsinghua University. Alibaba plans to invite around 20 candidates to meet with product managers at its headquarters in Hangzhou, China.
The number of Chinese people over 60 years old is expected to exceed 255 million by 2020, up from 230 million in 2016, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. Over 30 million Taobao users are 50-plus, with more than 75% falling in the 50-59 range, and nearly 20% aged 60-69.
