Hěnduō hángyè dōu chūxiàn le nèijuǎnhuà de xiànxiàng.
Many industries are showing signs of involution.
Tips
culture
内卷 became one of China's most viral buzzwords around 2020, describing the exhausting cycle of overwork and hyper-competition where everyone works harder but no one actually gets ahead. Originally an anthropology term (involution).
usage
The short form 内卷 is much more common in daily use. 卷 alone is used as a verb/adjective: 太卷了 (it's so competitive). The opposite is 躺平 (lying flat = opting out of the rat race).
