Inside a 93,000 square meter data center in suburban Virginia, James Waddy's daily routine involves walking 30,000 steps to inspect equipment.

After beating 35,000 other applicants for a seemingly leisurely, high-paying job on a paradise island, Ben Southall discovered that life is far from perfect.

A unique opportunity to live on a mountaintop and film daily cloud videos, offering a salary of nearly USD 8,900, attracted almost 3,600 Chinese applicants amid a challenging job market for young people.