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No more 70-hour work weeks? China clamps down on 996 overtime culture

The 70-hour workweek debate has reignited—this time in China, where the government is cracking down on the '996' work culture, recently declared illegal by the nation's top court. From tech giants to manufacturing powerhouses, several major Chinese firms have started telling employees to clock out earlier, The Economist reported last month. Midea, one of the country's leading appliance makers, now sends staff home by 6:20 pm. DJI, a drone manufacturer long associated with late hours, has begun clearing offices by 9 pm. These shifts signal a quiet, state-backed effort to dismantle the '996' culture that has come to define white-collar life in China's tech sector. Understanding China's 996 work culture and why it is controversial The '996 work culture' refers to a work schedule common in some Chinese tech companies and startups, where employees are expected to work from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. This results in a 72-hour work week, which is well beyond China's legal limit. Why tech firms in China pushed the 70-hour work week model The 996 work culture became a norm in China's tech industry, especially after Alibaba founder Jack Ma famously called it a 'blessing' in 2019, adding, 'If you want to join Alibaba, you need to be prepared to work 12 hours a day, otherwise why even bother joining?' A leaked internal letter from 2019 showed Richard Liu, founder of writing, 'Slackers are not my brothers!' He went on to criticise 'those who spend their days drinking coffee and pretending to work' and praised 'brothers who fight together and bleed together'. At the time, a job at Alibaba, Tencent, or Baidu signified prestige and prosperity, even if it came at the cost of personal time, pushing workers to quietly tolerate the long working hours. Chinese tech workers push back against exploitative work norms But soon after, tech workers, many of them young, began pushing back, criticising the culture as exploitative and unsustainable on platforms like GitHub. China's young workers join 'Bai Lan' and 'Tang Ping' anti-hustle movements Workers began mocking the system with phrases like '007'—working all day, every day. Many young Chinese started to join the 'Bai Lan' (let it rot) and 'Tang Ping' (lie flat) movements, rejecting ambition altogether in favour of low-key, low-stress lifestyles. This was further fuelled by the issue that despite working long hours, people were still struggling to afford housing, marriage, or a better quality of life. Skyrocketing property prices and living expenses made it especially difficult for Chinese youth to achieve financial security. Overwork, health risks and tragic deaths raise alarm in China and beyond Health has also taken a toll, with multiple reports of young workers in their twenties collapsing and dying after prolonged periods of overwork. While companies have denied any direct link to working hours, the incidents have fuelled speculation around chronic exhaustion. This is not unsimilar to the case of 26-year-old chartered accountant Anna Sebastian Perayil, who died just months after joining Ernst & Young in Pune. Her parents condemned the firm's 'glorification of overwork' and lack of employee support for her daughter's death. What China's labour law says about overtime and the 996 schedule China's Labour Law limits working hours to 8 hours per day and 40 per week, allowing up to 36 hours of overtime per month. In 2021, the Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Human Resources ruled the 996 schedule illegal, citing labour disputes where workers had died or been wrongfully dismissed over overtime. How Chinese firms bypass 996 bans using flexible work labels Yet enforcement has been sporadic. Many companies simply rebranded 996 as 'big week/small week' or used flexible-hour loopholes approved by local labour bureaus. Backlash forces resignations and sparks debate on work-life balance In 2024, Baidu's head of communications triggered a social media firestorm by declaring it wasn't her responsibility if employees' personal lives were destroyed by work. 'I'm not their mother,' she said. Days later, she resigned amid backlash. Global tech leaders defend extreme work hours as path to success Tech leaders across the globe have long championed a 'sacrifice now, succeed later' ethos, portraying extreme work hours as a prerequisite for greatness. Tech billionaire Elon Musk in 2018 famously said, 'Nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week,' urging followers to put in 80 to 100 hours to 'improve the odds of success.' Indian leaders echo long work hour sentiment amid productivity debate In India, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy sparked controversy by suggesting young people should work 70 hours a week to boost national productivity, a sentiment later echoed by several leaders. And while many have spoken out against hustle culture and toxic workplaces, deep-rooted cultural and economic forces continue to favour long hours with the promise of future rewards. Workers rarely challenge employers on overtime, fearing job loss or missed promotions. The problem is even more prevalent in the informal sector, with gig workers and service staff remaining overworked and underprotected. Younger workers in China and India reject hustle culture norms A younger generation of Chinese workers is increasingly rejecting the old trade-off of money for misery. While ending a deeply rooted cultural trend may be difficult, the fact that Beijing is even acknowledging the problem is significant. In India too, growing pushback against burnout culture suggests that younger professionals are beginning to question whether success should come at the cost of health and personal time.