The Extreme 996 Work Culture in China

Quit, depend on Jesus, render unto Caesar. I’m close to quitting it all in USA too- its not much better here

wait, so you all are doing 996, which means no family or kids, of course. I wonder what will happen to china in 20 years from now....

How much of those daily 12 hours spent in the office are actually productive and how many are simply clocking the hours because of peer pressure? Can an employee perform at 100% everyday after such tedious working hours?

What a short-sighted and dumb culture.

996 is not for me. 754 would be ideal for me.

At the end of the day this is a choice. They are not enslaved. If they can handle the wilderness then they can go live on a mountain somewhere and farm. I used to be in the tech industry and got caught up in this idea. It’s just an idea though. Just leave and go to the woods. Otherwise I can’t really empathize.

I wouldn't mind working 12 hour days 5 days a week and have weekends off . In this economy.. working o.t is necessary

The translation though lol. Vice Asia you need a new person working on the translation

Sure this is a shitty practice, but like this happens in America too. I work as a self employed individual who works maybe 10 or more hours most days with a varying schedule. Talk to any one whose had a factory job in America about how they tell you on Thursday how much of the rest of the week you are working. Like if it's shitty in China it's shitty in America too.

Most all people work for the rich, we keep them rich. We work until 62-65 then if lucky retire and have a few years to live.

Fuck that man, if i'm on call 24/7 you're paying me 24/7.
There are so many studies that prove you're not productive past a certain number of hours and without sufficient sleep

Of course tech company owners would endorse 996, they are the ones benefitting from it...

“If you have to work for a living, why do you kill yourself working “- TUCO

cold tip:most low society level workers in China that are very poor indeed admire their 996 work,since at least they need to do even much more work,and still get less money than these 996 workers.

We all know that virtually every employer in the west is just itching to implement this.

There is no lifestyle if you are only working. I don't care about nice things when there are few vacations, or time off. What's the point of having nice things if you can never use or enjoy them? Or that use is for six-hours one day a week? Great, I have a big home and such, I just go there to sleep and eat a microwaved meal.

Or, doing all that work to enjoy the last 10 years of your life in your diapers?

Those people are working in a office.
Imagine working at a construction site or a job that is really physical.

Hello:) Im bob the farmer i work 12h 7days a week

as a chef a 12 hour day sat in front of a screen sounds pretty relaxing. a 16 hour shift isn't uncommon in my industry

Me a cook working 12-12 6 days a week with no breaks and eating the same scraps at work. 👀👀

Live to work. Work to live. 996 = work to die.

Well. In America you die of obesity. In China you die of 996. Seems we always find a way to die. :/

That’s so fucked, literally slavery. The pay to the workers is nothing to the companies.

Really looking forward to the sequel, 12127.

Banks probably have a 997 policy though.

fuck china

Most of them can't even work anymore because there are no jobs

Absolutely not.

weirdos who agree to work like that are the ones to blame.

how many emergency can one have in a week that everyone need to be on call 24/7?

Is the comma necessary in "996,"?

Whereas I think this is a larger problem in China, the US is getting closer to this issue. I believe it all stems from the greed of the "top". They just want more and more while the working class gets poorer and poorer- forcing them to work insane hours just to scrape by.. I fear if this continues, we'll live in a world soon where there's only the elite, and those that work to only provide for the elite. This ultimately may stem systems where working people basically only receive poor housing conditions and just enough food to live; no more money to even buy entertainment or small luxury items- basically we will work just to literally survive

I live in Europe and have worked in corporate finance for years and we might not have a name for it, it might not be openly acknowledged like it is in China but there's not much difference. We're contracted to work 8 hours per day, 5 days per week but the workload that we're given is not achievable in that time. We regularly work 10+ hours per day, log in for a few hours at the weekend etc. I've personally worked between 10 - 16 hours per day on a regular basis. Just because we have strict employment laws, it doesn't mean that the work culture doesn't override that. Can we legally refuse to work the extra hours? Yes. Are our contracts going to be terminated and our bonuses not paid if we refuse to work the extra hours? Also yes.

Working that much would not be terrible if 1. You're young (20-30) 2. No commute, 3. All meals were catered by the company.

I think it would create a decent atmosphere if you wanted that.

My high school was 7 hours and 4 times a week. I don't think I appreciated my school system enough

$80K a year for 12 hours/6days a week is equivalent to $21 an hour…

American people: Our lives suck ass

China people: Welcome to our country, American

I work 997 in Australia. 11 years since ive taken a day off.

Shows you why labor unions are so important

unless u born strong u wont make any money 😂😂

If you're getting 80000 as a young professional, you have to put in the hours. If you want to see 6 figures down the line, you have to do more than average. This becomes a problem when people with no prospects in low education jobs have to do it in order to survive.
One of the things any employee needs to figure out at one point is what they want and are willing to sacrifice. I'm glad that I went through this school, it's better than any university on the planet - but I'm also glad I'm past this point in my life.

What's really concerning to me is that it's not always optional. If you're a debt slave as they exist in many countries around the world, this is your life. Just teach your kids better

People who do 996 are leeks

China slave labour

12 hours a day?! 😂 How about you interview an American construction worker next

I'm a farmer in the west, I've done that ever since I was 7...

I did this in America when I had 2 jobs it was called “paying my bills”

What a horrible society and culture.

Hit pieces on the extreme work ethic in other countries seem more and more common lately. Some people just can't keep up; if you're one of them instead of trying to tear them down just stay out of the way of the hyperproductive people. Yes, here in the west we are mostly soft and lazy now. Step up or get passed by.

I'm not Chinese and I've worked like that especially in my younger years. That's the tech industry silicon valley is the same damn way they give you "unlimited PTO" but you're shamed or moved off projects for taking any time off. I've worked way later as a developer sleeping 4 hours or sometimes not at all and going on 2-3 day long straight writing code, worked holidays, vacations, weekends, whenever because that's what is expected of you. Even though it is never expressly said your career will go nowhere if you work a straight 8 hr day with regular hours. It's just getting worse too now that the career path is main stream and the tech industry is being overrun by mega corporate conglomerates the greedy fucks are already cutting pay and benefits. I've been doing it for 20 years and I'm so damn tired of it and sick of all these companies' bullshit, but there are plenty of naive 22 year olds lined up to take my place who will inevitably end up just like me.

What is my life purpose?

- "To pass the butter"

... omg :(

In Germany many people have a second or third job to survive. It's not only a Chinese problem. It's all over the world.

so apparently the job that's required to have a rich lifestyle is one where you have no life besides work sleep work sleep what's the point of life at that point