Overwork culture of Chinese technology companies opens debate

"I do not defend 996 hours of work, but I respect the workers!" Jack Ma, founder of the Chinese Internet giant Alibaba, said Friday on his Weibo during a debate initiated by software developers on the country's demanding work schedules.

"996 works, ICU is waiting"

What is "996"? The term refers to an unofficial but popular work schedule in Chinese Internet companies (9am to 9pm, six days a week). This usually results in about 70 hours of work per week, although Chinese labor law stipulates that the weekly limit does not exceed 48 hours and that overtime requires additional pay.

However, most of the 996 hours are unpaid. To circumvent the law, most companies consider 996 as a "tacit rule" without mentioning it in the contract.

There have undoubtedly been employee complaints, but the 996.ICU site has drawn attention to this problem at the end of March. The field makes fun of the 996 schedule that dominates the life of a programmer, forcing him to work until end up in an intensive care unit (ICU). At the bottom of the website, a slogan reads: The Life of Developers Matters.

Later, a project called 996.ICU quickly followed GitHub, a popular code-sharing site and tools. Chinese programmers joined the project and posted a blacklist of 996 compliant technology companies as well as a whitelist for reasonable hours of work. A large number of Chinese tech giants are blacklisted, including Huawei and Alibaba, who are famous for their high pay and pressure.

The project quickly caught the attention of the whole world. The creator of Python, Guido van Rossum, tweeted: "The work schedule of 996 is inhuman." He also wrote in the thread: "Can we do something for the 996 programmers in China?"

We have nothing without nothing? Comments from the tycoons of the Internet

While overworking discussions went beyond programming, China's technology magnates quickly joined the debate by trying to defend the hard work culture.

Richard Liu, founder of Chinese online trading giant JD.com, said the "loafers" of his business are not his "brothers" and that he can personally work 8116, which means 8 am-11 pm hours, six days a week, according to his comments posted on his personal WeChat flow on Friday.

JD will never "force" employees to work 995 or 996, but every employee must have "the spirit to fight for the job," he said in his comments.

"No company should nor can it oblige employees to work according to schedule 996 … but young people need to be aware that happiness comes from arduous work," Ma said in a message released Friday by Weibo after Thursday's speech, generating about 35,000 comments per hour press. most of which are critical.

These comments were quickly the subject of reactions, this time, not just programmers.

In response to Ma's messages, @ Lec16_Wei from Weibo noted that most overwork results are harvested by business owners rather than by employees.

Weibo @YubeimingBen user argued that young people should work hard, but that they have the right to choose in which way.

Even the Chinese media weighed in weight. "Creating a business culture of" encouraging overtime "will not help the core competitiveness of the company, but could also hinder and impair its ability to innovate, "said Thursday an article from People's Daily.

Overwork is linked to poor physical and mental health. Compared to people working about 35 to 40 hours a week, those who work more than 55 hours a week are at increased risk of stroke and coronary heart disease, the Financial Times reported in January, citing a study Lancet medical journal.

Working long hours is also linked to depression and anxiety, which can disrupt sleep and worsening sleep, according to the report, citing a national health survey conducted in 2017 and showing that approximately 20% of Chinese adults working more than 51 hours a week anxiety.

China is not the only Asian country to face long hours of work. Japan, which even has a word for "death by overwork," Karoshi, is reforming the workplace this year by putting in place the very first legal ceiling on overtime. Last year, South Korea reduced its work week to 52 hours from the previous 68 hours.