Chinese tech workers disclose working hours in criticism of ‘996’ By Reuters

By Josh Horwitz

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A marketing campaign calling on staff at Chinese language tech corporations and different high-profile companies to log their working hours on a public web web page has gone viral, within the newest backlash in opposition to a tradition of extra time.

Organised by 4 nameless creators who described themselves as current graduates, the “Employee Lives Matter” marketing campaign calls on workers at tech companies to enter their firm identify, place, and dealing hours in a spreadsheet posted on GitHub.

As of Thursday morning, greater than 4,000 individuals who stated they labored at tech giants reminiscent of Alibaba (NYSE:) Group Holding Ltd, Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:), Tencent Holdings (OTC:) Ltd and ByteDance had registered their information.

Workers have since additionally created separate spreadsheets for particular sectors reminiscent of actual property, finance, and international corporations.

A majority of the entries on the spreadsheet present that whereas a five-day week is the norm, many staffers work 10 to 12 hours a day.

One of many creators stated in a put up that they hoped the record can be an efficient reference device for staff when selecting jobs.

In one other put up, the staff argued that the “996” apply of working 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days per week was rife and dealing hours had been at web companies had been typically opaque.

“We hope to make a contribution to the boycott of ‘996’ and the popularization of ‘955’,” stated one of many creators on China’s question-and-answer web site Zhihu in a put up considered 6 million instances. “955” imply 9 a.m. to five p.m. 5 days per week.

Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and ByteDance didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.

Lengthy work hours are a scorching matter for China’s tech staff and others among the many younger, white-collar class.

The problem first gained consideration in 2019, when tech staff launched an identical on-line marketing campaign in opposition to “996”.

In current months, criticism of lengthy hours has gained traction due to a authorities crackdown on tech corporations that has shone a highlight on their remedy of staff.

This 12 months, corporations together with TikTok proprietor ByteDance, brief video platform Kuaishou and meals supply big Meituan have minimize obligatory weekend extra time. China’s prime courtroom in August described “996” as unlawful.