996

[Randy W]

from Jack Ma's SCMP

 

Alibaba’s Jack Ma defends China’s 996 schedule as tech workers protest against long working hours

• There has been growing resentment among many young Chinese tech workers who feel the need to strike a better work-life balance for the sake of their health

 

 

 

The 996 schedule – which means working 9am to 9pm, six days a week – is “a huge blessing that many companies and employees do not have the opportunity to have,” Ma said in an internal event on Thursday, according to a transcript published on Alibaba’s official WeChat account.

“If you do not do 996 when you are young, when will you? Do you think never having to work 996 in your life is an honour to boast about?” he said.

Ma defended 996, saying such a schedule has helped Chinese tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent grow to become what they are today, drawing on his own experience of working long hours in the industry. He went on to call on his employees to dedicate themselves to the work ethic.

“If you join Alibaba, you should get ready to work 12 hours a day, otherwise why do you come to Alibaba? We do not need those who comfortably work 8 hours,” he said.

 

. . .

 

So far the online rebellion has attracted 211,000 “stars” on Github, spurring some Chinese web browsers to block the post.

In a new study, CB Insights found that “burnout” was the primary cause of 8 per cent of the 101 start-up failures it analysed. But Ma appears to have a different take. “If you do not pay the price, how will you gain?” he said in the meeting.

Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.

 

 

 

[Allon]

The Japanese call it karoshi or death by overwork. They work as many hours and have developed alternate means of relaxation. Dr. Sanjay Gupta explored it Saturday on CNN.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/japan-has-a-word-for-working-to-death

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/12/AR2008071201630.html?noredirect=on

 

 

It's interesting that some high rise dwellings in Shenzhen and Guangzhou have nets around the top floors to catch suicides. One suicide was particularly sad.

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/technology/companies/27apple.html

 

I wonder, does a net stop the abuse?

 

In May 2011 Foxconn erects nets around its Shenzhen factory buildings, designed to prevent suicide jumps. A PR firm, Burson-Marsteller, is hired to deal with negative publicity. The nets seem to work, with fewer suicides reported after they go up, but at least four employees die by throwing themselves from buildings.

 

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/07/suicide-chinese-iphone-factory-reignites-concern-working-conditions/

[Randy W]

Jack and the CCP tone it down a little . . .

 

from the SCMP

 

Alibaba founder Jack Ma says companies forcing staff to work overtime are ‘foolish’

• Billionaire makes remarks in social media post after earlier comments that long hours could be a ‘huge blessing’ for young workers
• He also calls enforced 996 schedule – working 9am to 9pm, six days a week – ‘inhumane’ and ‘unsustainable’

 

“If you find a job you like, the 996 problem does not exist; if you’re not passionate about it, every minute of going to work is a torment,” Ma said in a post on his Weibo account on Sunday.

“No one likes working at a company that forces you to do ‘996’. Not only is it inhumane, it’s unhealthy and even more unsustainable for long periods – plus workers, relatives and the law do not approve of it,” he said. “In the long term, even if you pay a higher salary, employees will all leave.”

Ma added that companies that thought they could profit by forcing staff to work overtime were “foolish” and doomed to fail.

. . .

 

The ruling Communist Party’s mouthpiece also stepped into the debate later on Sunday, with a commentary in People’s Daily saying those who questioned 996 should not be “labelled”.

“Valuing hard work does not equate to forcing employees to work overtime,” the commentary said. “One should not attach the moral labels of ‘slackers’ or ‘not willing to strive’ to employees who are against 996.”

It also criticised the culture of mandatory overtime as unhealthy and inefficient.

 

 

[Allon]

LOL. An understandable turn around.

[Randy W]

For even MORE of a turnaround . . .

 

from the Sixthtone

 

 

“In life, on the other hand, we want 669,” Ma continued. “What is 669? Six times in six days, with stamina being the key,” he said, playing on an alternate meaning for jiu, the Chinese word for “nine.” Alibaba suggested that Ma’s crude double-entendre was not lost on those present, ending the post with a winking-face emoji.

Meanwhile, Chinese netizens weighed in below the post, a hodgepodge of the amused and confused. “My greatest fear is someone who thinks they’re funny,” quipped one Weibo user. Another said simply: “996 people shouldn’t make jokes about 669.” (Image: @阿里巴巴 on Weibo)

 

 

[Randy W]

 . . . and yet again

Chinese authorities have clarified that it is illegal for companies to make employees work extended hours and terminate their contracts for not following excruciating work schedules known as “996” — 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week.

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook
 https://www.facebook.com/sixthtone/posts/3027901280862045

China’s Top Court Says Grueling ‘996’ Work Schedule Illegal
The Supreme People’s Court published a set of labor-related disputes to clarify legal standards of working hours and overtime wages.

Quote

 

Chen Ying, a lawyer at Beijing Yingke Law Firm, told Sixth Tone that improved regulations mean there has been an increase over the years in workers claiming overtime wages or demanding compensation for illegal termination of labor contracts. While companies usually don’t tell employees to work overtime, Chen said they often do so indirectly by increasing their workload or demanding more output.

“This kind of forced or disguised forcing workers to work overtime is not allowed by China’s labor law,” Chen said. “Workers now have heightened legal awareness and dare to take up legal weapons to protect their legitimate rights and interests.”

 

 

[Randy W]

Fed up with long work hours, thousands of Chinese employees have joined an online campaign called “#WorkerLivesMatter,” renewing a debate over mandatory overtime and revealing a sample of working hours at major Chinese companies.
Read more: http://ow.ly/Xlnd50GsuKp

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/sixthtone/posts/3065864433732396:0

Chinese Workers Bring New Weapon to Overtime Fight: A Spreadsheet
A grassroots database has opened a window on big tech work hours.

(Header image: An employee watches a video on his cell phone as he rests at his cubicle during lunch break, at a tech company in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 12, 2019. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images/People Visual)

Quote

 

On Thursday, a grassroots online database that asks Chinese employees to report their actual working hours went viral on GitHub, a Microsoft-owned platform that allows developers to share code and help each other build software. As of Friday, the survey has over 5,000 respondents, including employees from major tech companies like Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance.

Github was home to 2019’s “996.ICU” campaign, which challenged the notorious schedule that asks workers to be in the office “9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week.”

“The campaign is initiated by Chinese programmers to address the current situation where overtime work is prevalent and unregulated in companies, including tech firms,” read a manifesto attached to the latest campaign, adding it was created by anonymous developers in China. “We workers need lives as well,” it states.

The database includes information drawn from a survey, including the employee’s job, start and finish times, lunch and dinner break, working days per week, and observations on other controversial issues such as the number of employees over the age of 35 — the age at which Chinese tech companies are rumored to fire employees.

Sixth Tone analyzed 10 major tech companies listed in the database, including Tencent, Alibaba, Huawei, ByteDance, and Baidu, each of which was represented by dozens of responses. Most respondents claiming to be employees at these companies said they started the day around 10 a.m. and finished at 9 p.m., with around three hours’ break for lunch and dinner total. Most of these staff report working five day weeks, with a minority reporting six days.

 

 

[Randy W]

Still in the news . . .

Chinese tech workers have been fighting against the grueling “996” work schedule for years. A programmer’s resistance against long working hours to meet their output has once again reignited discussions on overtime in the country’s tech sector despite companies and the government vowing to end such practices.
Read more: http://ow.ly/wtKV50HFtEz

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/sixthtone/posts/3146189182366587:0

‘I’ll Resign’: A Tech Worker Counters China’s Overtime Culture
Voices against the grueling “996” work schedule have become louder over the years.

Quote

 

“Do you have to make the developers work over 20 hours to make a product that you are satisfied with?” he wrote, referring to the appraisal document commending the team for spending 20 hours a day to meet their target. “I’ll resign tomorrow.”

Chinese tech workers have been fighting against overtime culture for years, often protesting their employers’ exploitative behaviors. The “996” work schedule — 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week — has been blamed for multiple deaths, leading to heated discussions over labor rights, and online campaigns.

In the screenshots, the WeCom employee added that his high school classmate, also a programmer, died of a cerebral hemorrhage after working overtime, without elaborating.

Following a spate of overtime-related tragedies, China’s top court in August published a set of relevant rulings ensuring workers’ rights and deemed 996 as illegal. Meanwhile, major tech companies — including ByteDance, Meituan, and a gaming developer owned by a subsidiary of Tencent — have limited overtime and weekend work, though employees say little has changed.

Another programmer at Tencent, surnamed Zhang, hailed his peer for speaking out against the grueling work schedule and said the industry needs a “radical solution” to entirely punch out 996.

“It’s not just an issue with Tencent, but shared by all of China’s tech companies,” Zhang told Sixth Tone, adding he usually works over 10-hour shifts Monday through Friday. “We have to constantly compete with other employees to acquire good reviews from our leaders. That’s why we have no choice but to work late everyday.”