24th October 2021

996 – Chinese Working Culture

In the past two decades, China’s rapid economic growth has led to the emergence of domestic technology firms such as Tencent, Pinduoduo, AliBaba, and JD.com. Many of these companies have adopted a work culture which has become known as 996 where employees are expected to work from 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week as a minimum. This is despite Chinese labour laws which prohibit working more than 44 hours per week.

Employees at these companies can earn excellent salaries at over £50,000 a year in a developing country where the average yearly income is £7000. With few high paying jobs in such industries relative to China’s population, it is politically difficult to highlight the plight of middle-class office workers as opposed to those who live in poverty who also tend to be older and waiting to benefit from decades of Chinese economic prosperity. 

With a population of over 1 billion, the government has succeeded in taking 750 million people out of extreme poverty in the last 30 years, the Chinese government is also imposing strict competition laws on tech companies to ensure their profits are being redirected from shareholders to further alleviate domestic poverty.

Many younger university graduates, however, are less accepting of the 996 work culture, a new culture has emerged among young professionals against overwork and embracing a culture of laziness known as ‘touching fish’ where the workday is deliberately slowed down in a non-violent, non-conformist rejection of the work culture. Examples include standing up and walking around the office whenever someone else does, drinking a lot of water to go to the bathroom often, and using social media while at work. This online movement has become popular with younger employees against a backdrop of suicide, burnout, and frustration that these working practices do not lead to promotion and a better life.

Despite this, many entrepreneurs and CEOs are supportive of 996 which includes practices such as fines for missing calls, foldout beds to sleep at work, and signal blockers to prevent employees using their smartphones in the toilet.

As China continues to develop economically, with a large population, it will be interesting to see how the government can appease middle class office workers who want a better work life balance with the desires of those in working class occupations such as factory and agricultural workers who suffer from many of the same issues but work in boring and low paying jobs.

By William Hayward

William is a lecturer in Business Management in the University of Wolverhampton Business School