Ning Boyu, 30, was a doctoral student at the University of Electronic Science and Technology. In 2023, he joined Huawei's "genius youth" program, earning the highest salary of 140,000 USD per year.
During his studies, he published 21 scientific papers on wireless telecommunications. Ning also broke the school's high jump record, won swimming championships, and was a content creator on Bilibili.
On 5/8, he resigned, returning to his hometown of Shaodong (Hunan) to help his family harvest corn. His decision to leave a high salary for 1,4 USD on his first day of farming led many on social media to call it a waste of talent.
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Ning Boyu, 30, experiences farming in his Hunan hometown. Photo: Ifeng |
Explaining his decision, Ning cited work pressure as the main reason. At Huawei, his tasks focused on future-oriented research, requiring high independence and long cycles. Meanwhile, most colleagues handled projects with clear deliverables. This difference made him feel isolated and lacking tangible results.
"Quarterly performance reviews were like playing League of Legends. Time spent farming minions, killing crabs, and slaying dragons all became metrics," he said.
The "genius youth" title also created pressure. Ning stated that he often worried when his research had not yet brought commercial value to the company. The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) also caused him to question his work. "If AI can do those things later, what value will my current skills have?" he asked.
However, Ning clarified that farming is only a short-term experience. He has received a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship from the European Union and is preparing to join the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden as a postdoctoral researcher.
"I like to see myself as an actor in my own life. This month's script might be a farmer, next month it could be a driver," Ning Boyu said.
In fact, Ning is not the only "genius youth" to leave Huawei. Previously, Peng Zhihui and Li Bojie also resigned in 2022 and 2023, respectively, to start businesses building robots and developing large language models.
"The essence of life is an experience; you don't need to prove yourself to anyone," Boyu said.
Bao Nhien (According to Ifeng, Yahoo)
