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996 working hour system
The 996 working hour system (Chinese: 996工作制) is a work schedule practiced illegally by some companies in China. It derives its name from its requirement that workers clock in from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, 6 days per week, resulting in employees working 12 hours per day and 72 hours per week. A number of Mainland Chinese internet and tech companies have adopted this system as their official or de facto work schedule. Critics argue that the 996 working hour system is a violation of the Labour Law of the People's Republic of China and have called it "modern slavery".
In March 2019, an "anti-996" protest was launched via GitHub. Since then, the 996 issue has been met with growing discontent in China.
The culture of overtime work has a long history in Chinese IT companies, where the focus is typically on speed and cost reduction. Companies employ a range of measures, such as reimbursing taxi fares for employees who remain working at the office late into the night, to incentivize overtime work.
This system of working for long hours with few breaks has been known to increase the occurrence of mental and physical problems seen in workers. It is estimated that more than three-quarters of urban workers in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou suffer from work-related fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, sleep or eating disorders, occupational stress, and work–family imbalance. According to China's state-owned People's Daily, a 2013 survey showed that 98.8% of Chinese IT industry workers reported health problems. Numerous overwork deaths and suicides have occurred during past decades due to the 996 system and other overtime work systems in China.
In 2020, a study published in IEEE Software done by Chinese researchers found that "Chinese businesses are more likely to follow long work hours than American ones". Another study likened 996 culture to "modern slavery", formed through the combination of "unrestricted global capitalism and a Confucian culture of hierarchy and obedience".
In September 2016, the classified advertising website 58.com officially declared its adoption of the 996 working hour system, attracting criticism from employees and social commentators. The company responded that the 996 system would be encouraged, not a compulsory practice.
A CNBC article in May 2021 reported that workers at TikTok's parent company ByteDance were unhappy with the 996 work culture there and that people were turning down job opportunities at TikTok because of it. In November 2021, ByteDance moved away from 996 and mandated shorter working hours. Nevertheless, on 23 February 2022, the sudden death was reported of a 28-year-old employee at ByteDance, after he posted a message on Maimai, a career and social networking platform, the night before. ByteDance later issued a statement that was shared in an internal letter with its staff in China, according to which the employee felt dizzy after an hour of exercise at the company gym, before he was taken to the hospital. The incident raised scrutiny of the frequent overtime demands of Chinese tech companies.
After 58.com's 996 schedule was made known to the public, an internal email from the vice-president Gang He (Chinese: 何剛) of JD.com was leaked online, which contained a demand for the management team of JD.com to implement the 996 working hour system "on a flexible basis".
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996 working hour system
The 996 working hour system (Chinese: 996工作制) is a work schedule practiced illegally by some companies in China. It derives its name from its requirement that workers clock in from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, 6 days per week, resulting in employees working 12 hours per day and 72 hours per week. A number of Mainland Chinese internet and tech companies have adopted this system as their official or de facto work schedule. Critics argue that the 996 working hour system is a violation of the Labour Law of the People's Republic of China and have called it "modern slavery".
In March 2019, an "anti-996" protest was launched via GitHub. Since then, the 996 issue has been met with growing discontent in China.
The culture of overtime work has a long history in Chinese IT companies, where the focus is typically on speed and cost reduction. Companies employ a range of measures, such as reimbursing taxi fares for employees who remain working at the office late into the night, to incentivize overtime work.
This system of working for long hours with few breaks has been known to increase the occurrence of mental and physical problems seen in workers. It is estimated that more than three-quarters of urban workers in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou suffer from work-related fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, sleep or eating disorders, occupational stress, and work–family imbalance. According to China's state-owned People's Daily, a 2013 survey showed that 98.8% of Chinese IT industry workers reported health problems. Numerous overwork deaths and suicides have occurred during past decades due to the 996 system and other overtime work systems in China.
In 2020, a study published in IEEE Software done by Chinese researchers found that "Chinese businesses are more likely to follow long work hours than American ones". Another study likened 996 culture to "modern slavery", formed through the combination of "unrestricted global capitalism and a Confucian culture of hierarchy and obedience".
In September 2016, the classified advertising website 58.com officially declared its adoption of the 996 working hour system, attracting criticism from employees and social commentators. The company responded that the 996 system would be encouraged, not a compulsory practice.
A CNBC article in May 2021 reported that workers at TikTok's parent company ByteDance were unhappy with the 996 work culture there and that people were turning down job opportunities at TikTok because of it. In November 2021, ByteDance moved away from 996 and mandated shorter working hours. Nevertheless, on 23 February 2022, the sudden death was reported of a 28-year-old employee at ByteDance, after he posted a message on Maimai, a career and social networking platform, the night before. ByteDance later issued a statement that was shared in an internal letter with its staff in China, according to which the employee felt dizzy after an hour of exercise at the company gym, before he was taken to the hospital. The incident raised scrutiny of the frequent overtime demands of Chinese tech companies.
After 58.com's 996 schedule was made known to the public, an internal email from the vice-president Gang He (Chinese: 何剛) of JD.com was leaked online, which contained a demand for the management team of JD.com to implement the 996 working hour system "on a flexible basis".
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