The Extreme 996 Work Culture in China
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- Опубликовано: 27 авг 2021
- "996" is a common term used by employees at China’s tech companies to describe their working life- starting work at 9am and leaving at 9pm, working six days a week. VICE World News looks at China’s hyper-competitive work culture and the costs to their personal and social lives.
*VICE Motion Graphics Artist - Kushagrah Kalia
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"The dark side of 996", Bro all the sides of this are dark
Funniest yet sad comment
Right what other sides are there 💀
@@user-vq6ik4kk1r abyss 💀
Dark
Unless you're making mad coin. Like you could do it for a while if the money was rolling in
I had a boss tell me once, "Your job is to pay for the type of lifestyle you want to live. It should never consume your life. Your family, friends, and well-being are what's important in life." I still live by those words.
thats beautiful
It's true. It's just that the concept of work-life balance becomes more of a fairy-tale because affording a decent lifestyle by the materialistic standards that are constantly marketed to us become harder and harder to obtain.
America's minimum wage is $7.25. I don't know anyone who can make an honest living making $7.25 for 40 hours a week without some form of assistance.
Agreed
You just wait until you figure out that you can make others pay for that 😏
All hail Capitalism 😏 perfectly balanced like all things should be. 😁👌
Smart
I've worked in China for almost 5 years and the working hours (mainly for Chinese citizens) is completely insane. People are not efficient nor productive due to exhaustion and mental fatigue. Meetings always last multiple hours and rarely anything gets resolved. The lack of productivity is actually astonishing. For example, people were shocked when I finished a simple task within 1 hour, rather than taking 2-4 hours to complete it. These are results of 996 working mentality, people are just stretching out their tasks as much as possible. I've seen some companies in China slowly adopting 4 days work week or 4.5 days work week, really hoping it continues in that direction, because the younger generation at the moment will never accept 996.
just like in Japan
I was so productive during lockdown, finished my work in a fraction of the 8 hour day. Then when we got back to the office, i was done with my tasks in like 4 hours, then i had to sit another 4 hours pretending i was busy, it's stupid... we need to rethink the way work eats our lifetime away
@@doppelminds1040lol this is sooo accurate 😂 Same!
@@juanok2775Japan gets better working style nowadays, they don't promote doing extra works anymore
even Chinese companies in the US hold a Chinese work culture. When you complain, their reply is, yeah work culture. Ok, that means tomorrow some Arabic company is going to force employees to wear niqab and follow Sharia law. I am sad companies from abroad bring their cultures instead of following local rules
What surprises me is that they're happy to have people to work these hours or even encourage them to do so. I live in Asia and you see the people here working for long hours but they are extremely unproductive, which actually costs the business more in the long run. It's better to have motivated hard working people in for 4 days a week than tired people who hate their job for 6
I totally agree with you regarding the difference between motivations and productivities. But sadly in my eyes, the gestures are showing more about the hierarchy, domination, and the insecurities of the leaders and companies. That's essentially why I chose to live in the west.
And from a more national perspective, giving people free time means they have more time to pump their money back into the economy through leisure, and this will open up new markets
@I am Fighterman I pity you
@@iamfighterman9646 Japan also has the highest suicide rate and lowest work life balance. I like the place but workers get treated like shit there
@@patrickwilliamson29 Japan doesn't have the highest suicide rate, this is some decades old stereotype. Japan is 49th in the world at 12.2 per 100000. Some notable countries above that rate: Russia 21.6, South Korea 21.2, Kazakhstan 18.1, Ukraine 17.7, USA 14.5, Slovenia 14, Belgium 13.9, Finland 13.4, India 12.9, Sweden 12.4
This level of work ethic makes sense for an entrepreneur serving to grow a business. Not for employees getting paid hourly.
They don't even get paid hourly,they get fixed wages and are forced to work more hours than they're paid for.
That's not "work ethic", that's corporate propaganda that benefits from desensitized slavery.
Capitalists are fucking delusional
Yup that is true, but usually the entrepeneours understand that. The ones that usually do not understand are middle management.
@@thechosenone1533 Exactly
Imagine being a slave for more than a decade to get a degree just to be a slave again for the rest of your existence. What a life!
😂😂😂
That's called Capitalism!
And College
Every single adult life includes working for 20+ years
almost all humans to have ever existed worked their whole life; since the invention of agriculture.. nothing new
I was working like a 996 in the UK as a programmer but it was with some overtime pay or an extra day off in lieu as a reward. I did that for 6 months I think and that made me terrified of mental stress. I didn't know what is burnout until it hit me and the anxiety of bugs before I went to sleep made it very hard to sleep. You dream of work. Even though I was getting extra pay or an extra day off in lieu, it didn't make me any happier. Especially if you work from home. You wake up, wash your face, have breakfast and sit down for work, and work until it's time to sleep, repeat. Then on your day off, since you are so used to working from home, you don't even get to relax at home because now that is your office. So, you force yourself to go out but then all your friends are busy so you go out alone and try to see the good in life. It's not a healthy way of living at all.
:(
Are you working a different job, now?
In my opinion, what you described is more like the nature of coding than that of your job. I just can’t stop working until the debugging is done, though I am merely a part-time programming learner.
I told people this years ago. I think people assume working from home is a panacea, presumably because they feel they can slack or something. Truth is, you never leave your workplace, and that lack of a psychological break is not easy for many to handle. I work from home now because the family needs my flexibility (and I'm the boss), but I think if I were single I'd have to return to a place around other humans.
If you were working 996 in the UK the company you were working for was breaking the law.
In Europe your employer would never let you stay 12h at work. It means 4h of overtime so he has to pay you +50% for these 4h. Not even mentioning +100% for 12h on Saturday. It is just more economical for him to hire additional employee.
Not true mine friend
Wrong on several levels. First, we do not have unified work laws for the EU, each country has their own and therefore you can't really make a statement like you did. Second, the 50%/100% higher loans might be true in some countries for workers who get paid by an hour, but office jobs generally work on a salary basis. If you're lucky you have to document your time at work and it is also socially accepted to document overtime, which might be paid out or you can go home earlier for the same amount of hours on another day. But often it is not socially accepted to record overtime, or you work on a "trust basis" meaning you don't document your work hours and therefore can't record overtime.
@Leonie Ri do you describe work conditions in 3rd world country or what? In each of 5 companies I worked for all time you spend is registered and overtime is paid and this is accepted by everyone, nobody stays at work for free
Hehe i live in the netherlands and here i had a contract of 32 hour spread over 4 days. Reality i worked from 13 a 15 hour a day instead of 8. The extra hours i didnt not get compensated and no time for time. There are many evil companys Who make use off people. So what is writed here above is maybe what they want you to belivie but in Reality is different. Its not only in the netherlands but all over the world
@@MrShakero it definitely depends on what you do, e.g. for workers in the metal industry stuff like that probably won't happen since they have such a strong union. But try asking a young doctor or a Consultant in a CPA/Consulting firm whether they actually work just their 40 hours 😅 it might also depend on the country, at least in my country (Germany) it's common.
“I’m losing my soul and becoming very numb.”
If that doesn’t sound alarming then I don’t know what does
That's like a linking park song
This is not for lazy Western cucks. This is Asia, people don't believe in handouts
imagine having a soul smh
@@antiracistbaby1085 you’re using a western woman as your pfp you weirdo..
@@Killzoneinbound Brazilians are not western
996 isn't even effective. Productivity dramatically decreases once fatigue overtakes the body. A better balance would actually result in more work being done.
On a factory floor perhaps where efficiency greatly effects productivity.
Not so for a receptionist for instance, they can answer the phn and take a message just as well on hour 11.
Maybe a mistake here and there.
Same with managers, sale people, people in marketing and financials.
The slight drop in productivity is far less than the cost of training and employing a second worker.
However, on a factory floor or construction or something like that, then yes, once they are tired their productivity will dramatically decrese.
You do not understand.. humans are replaceable. If productivity decreases, you just pick another human with high productivity. There are no human rights. That’s the problem.
@@icecoldchilipreppers6496 you think people in office jobs don’t get fatigued? Gtfoh , that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. You’re full of shit.
They take 2.5 hour to 3 hour lunches to nap. People are paid monthly also, once a month. Pay isn't by hour for most in China.
@@icecoldchilipreppers6496 They are talking about knowledge workers. Mental fatigue is real. I have worked as a laborer and a tech worker. Tech is much more draining.
Definitely understand ming. Tried working at couple popular call centers in my country and I just could not do it, i cried everyday, id loose my incentives if I was even 1 min over my pee break and the calls were none stop. Felt so weak that I couldn't handle it when some people were there for over 10 years. Still not over it, feel defeated.
callcenters are the worst, dont beat yourself up for not handling inhumane pressure and remember that maybe some people have advantages over others because of a supervisor/superior that favors them. or maybe they really really REALLY like speaking and tricking clients into buying stuff/make deals that are actually very bad for the client long-term wise
Don’t feel defeated, you have standards
I was in a similar situation. Took many months to recover. Hope you’ve seen improvement.
I had a job in the government that nearly killed me. Til this day, I feel like taking that job was the worst decision I have ever made, and trust me that's saying A LOT. I was working with my aunt and so I could NEVER escape work, she would follow me around the office bugging me about whatever bs, then she would call me once I got home continuing to pester me. I wanted to quit working after HUST ONE WEEK!!!! I would cry everyday day omw to work and home, I would go 5 and 6 days without sleeping, I would hallucinate, I blacked out while driving Because I hadn't slept and nearly caused a car accident and when I came to I had no fucking idea where I even was. I couldn't eat I couldn't think, I was the dumbest person in the office and I was certainly always made to feel that way. I had no one to talk to, not friends not family, no one. My family didn't take me serious because they didn't think a job could destroy you the way it did me. it was "JUST A JOB" after all.I had 3, THREE NERVOUS BREAKDOWNS!!!! I absolutely understand what she meant when she said it was invisible torture. I was eventually fired, that job took everything from me. This job ended in 2013 and I'm still suffering with PTSD. A job can absolutely kill you, if the stress doesn't kill you, you'll just end up killing yourself. My heart goes out to ANYONE and EVERYONE who has or is stuck in situations like this. Please know your pain and suffering is valid. You matter, your mental health matters, Please if you can, start trying to find a way to get out. It's not worth it, the money isn't worth it, I know it's easy to say "just quit" but You can't work a job if you're dead, you can't keep a job if you can't think. It's not worth it. My love and prayers go out to anyone who is or was stuck in this situation❤❤❤😢
What an awful experience. I hope you find your health and self-esteem restored soon.
Brutal
are you ok now
The worst thing is that there are many who glorify this practice. Somehow we've gotten to a point where not having sleep, food or any semblance of a social life equates to hard work.
This is what the rich want, more labor for less, your to tired to see what's happening...
*cough* hussle culture *cough, cough*
Modern slavery,work till you drop dead means no sick leave,no holiday,and no pension,companies dream workforce.
Fortunately or not body and brain can't work like that. Exhausted people are the source of errors, then you need even more work to fix it.
I’m sure it has nothing to do with all that crap entrepreneurs and motivational speakers put out about how you’re not successful because you like sleep more than you like success
Working like this does not increase productivity. It actually decreases it. Better to have happy workers with good work/life balance. It increases loyalty and productivity. It never ceases to amaze me when companies don’t realize, that if you treat your employees well and with respect you will go much further.
I *once* worked 70 hours in a week, and this was in a group home where much of the time the children and teens weren't present. My brain was pretty mushy by the end of it. Concentrating for 12 hours a day, even if you have breaks, six days a week as a norm? If you make your employees work like that, you get mush brain results.
For sure, because you know better than all of these companies and their data. :-D
In my opinion I think they are ok with working non stop and nothing else based on the culture
Totally agree
agree, if you got a task on wednesday, but you work 6 days a week then you may want to delay it so you will have some work until saturday. but if work at shorter time period then the task will be done few days earlier thus making you more productive.
It’s sad that I’m watching this video while here in Germany people discussing about four days working week (32h/week) with the same payment. We are living in the same world but the treatment can be so differently, knowing this makes me feel sad.
You’re kind❤
It’s sort of their own fault. They are all doing it. I worked with Chinese and Japanese people and they used sleep in work. They weren’t any more productive than us.
If they all said no then it would stop.
Why are you sad? Be happy you're not an chinese guy and live a life like a drone. Im glad i live in Europe.
Occasionally I’d travel to Korea for work. My colleagues in Korea would take us out to a nice dinner, we’d all have drinks, get buzzed, and when i was ready to call it a night and get some sleep back at the hotel…they all went back to the office to work some more 😮 Crazy work culture.
As an office worker, I realized that my peak productivity is 6 hours a day - 7 on a good day. We're able to achieve more in 30 to 35 hours a week than in 40+. When I worked 50+ hours, my work was poor quality and had to be redone. Upper management thinks you can have 9 women make a baby in 1 month. 996 is a reflection of poor upper management.
It isn't normal for a healthy adult to only be able to work 6-7 hours a day. Are you overweight? Can you grab handfuls of fat around your waist? If so, that's your problem.
@@jeanlucdiscard2382 able to and productivity is apples and oranges
@@jeanlucdiscard2382 I work as a lawyer, and I get the same amount of billable work done working 30 hours a week and a full 40 hour week. I worked 40 hours before covid and now nearer to 30 hours from home. Same amount of billable hours in 2020 as in 2019. It has nothing to do with not being able to work, but I - and many others - are more productive if the work sessions are shorter and more focused.
I like that everyone is calling out @Jean Discard for being a smooth brain.
Yes. Communists. Poor upper management.
I’ve never heard a resume read at a funeral. It’s unlikely your boss will be at your bedside at the end of your life thanking you for working so hard and not taking vacations and not spending time with your family. At the risk of sounding dramatic; when we put the needs of a company before our personal lives, we put our personal lives at risk.
Agree
100% agree with you. 99/6 isn't about hard work. Its about greed, war and death. They could care less about their citizens. They make it clear they are only a "human resource." And their vile ways are taking hold in the west right now.
We're just working-cattle.
@@Doctor-Stoppage it’s already in the west this has been going on to Americans
@Hear Hrrh bro success seems nice but it’s worthless in the end what you should do is try to pray and connect with god and try to focus on being happy rather then money god bless you
I work at ubisoft, as a level designer.
We get a 15 minutes break every 45 mins and a 1h:15 lunch break on a 8h work day.
That's why there are so many bugs in your guy's games.
@@rustyblue7129 The bugs are probably because of releasing the games way too early
@@dragonballzthelegend2316 because as per OP, 25% of their 8 hour day is allocated to breaks, that's why they never finish games on time.
no wonder siege is always down
so the breaks count into the 8h work or not?
I feel for them man. I was feeling anxious in my current company due to work presure but after seeing this I feel like I am privileged. Hope this changes very soon.😓
the craziest part to me is that even though she is working for over 12 hours a day, she's still living in what appears to be a small one bedroom apartment eating microwave noodles. this is so depressing
Who needs an apartment and hobbies when you can work all day!?
And with a college education..
Exactly. Big city rent is expensive and I bet she’s living month to month. She should get some crap job in the country, buy a little fixer upper house, and ride her bike to work. Maybe rent out a room. Either way, they’re both crap jobs but at least you get to have a personal life in the country. ❤️🤟🏻
@@amazingsupergirl7125 It's china. Living space is nearly impossible to find with reasonable commute unless you want to live out in the boonies and make your 996 into a worse ratio.
Right?? And her title is a tech executive??!?
"I'm always tired after work, I just swipe through social media. I don't even know what I'm looking at"
This hit me hard
That's why i deleted all social media
@@tence_6965 That doesnt solve the larger root issue, that you dont even have a chance to be alive because your existence is to work and sleep.
@John Wick Absolutely, People back then would have worked presumably less hours but achieved more tangible and real "rewards" out of it.
Such as building your house, or hunting for dinner etc. Actually meaningful stuff.
Todays society you're expected to work yourself to sleep, wake up and proceed with working. Most likely in a job that means Nothing to you and actively harms the environment.
Then people want to wonder why drug abuse and suicide is perpetually on the rise and todays generation don't have Anything to look forward to in their entire lives.
Its fucking fucked.... To put it lightly.
Same here. That was me at one point.
@@youtubedeletedmynamewhybother damn, I knew all of this but when you really think about it... How depressing
For four years in my twenties I worked away from home, sleeping in one or two star motels working 5-6 days a week, +10 hour days. There was a period of time were I worked 20 days straight. I refuse to live my life like this. These years of my life are gone and I will never get them back.
14:29 “As human beings, our dignity and liberty is more important”
South Korea used to be like this but they recently implemented many rules to prevent overworking. As a result, they're seeing happier employees, better fertility rates, etc.
Good to hear but doesn't south Korea still have the lowest birth rates in the world?
Where did you pull that lie from? South Korea currently has the lowest fertility rate in history (0.83 in 2020 and 0.8 in 2021 vs 1.2 in 2010). Sure you get anonymity on the internet but dont make shit up dude.
SK will be gone by 2070.
@@zakaryloreto6526 that could be why they are doing it....on flip side i don't think china has this problem
@@rac4687 They have, if you look at the new data, their birth rate have dropped to a level almost near the birth rate of Japan
It's just that they have a higher population so that the situation doesn't seem too bad in the short run.
"Sacrifice your childhood. Focus on school". They said
"It'll be great for your career" They said
"It will be fun" they said
Nobody said that mate
@@ejjsdhgxjdhhdhsh2339 clearly you don't have asian parents
@@cyzcyt haha
In India.
Study hard in school,have fun in college.
Study hard in college,have fun in university.
Study hard in university, have fun after graduation.
Study hard for job,have fun after being employed.
After being employed 24×7
Be ready for Boss call😭
Yeah, that's clearly what is happening to every children until now.
This type of life style doesn’t just affect the worker, it affects their family too. As a daughter of a single family, I got sent to boarding school because my mom just doesn’t have the time to take care of me, but even when I’m back home during weekends, I only get to see her for a few hours from Saturday night till Sunday afternoon where she would send me to the school bus and I go back to school.
Now that I’m an adult, I have realized I was completely neglected and traumatized as a child, but I don’t even really blame her cause could she have done. Because of the lack of family support in my childhood, I grew up being clinically depressed too. It’s honestly such an unsustainable way of working, because even now my mom is still constantly working, even when she is suppose to be resting or on a holiday, she is always answering work calls, replying to work messages
I am a Chinese,I have many years 996 experience,and I hate this culture.This will make veryone in the wrong way,veryone need work harder than before.not only bad for personal’s healthy,but also will damage our future.
I wish they priorities of mental health for the workers.my boss encourages mental health and resources
Here in my country in Europe I work from 6:00-14:00 or from 14:00-22:00. I am more and more grateful for this kind of working hours while I watch Asian work culture.
Just left mine. 90k a year. They started “forced overtime”. I’m out. I’d rather make less but watch my daughter grow up and be present to love on my wife.
Can’t miss the little things. Good for you and yours.
Good for you, hope you enjoy your time with family!
Salute to you, God bless
takes courage to make that choice (i did) and it's hard but worth it.
good for you man because once those times pass, no money can buy it back.
My stomach turned at the end when she's describing how numb she feels. She sounded like someone willing to take their own life just to escape her life. I hope she can find happiness.
Yeah that Numb comment got to me also
I did this 3 year ago. 12 hour for 6 month no rest days. Then i resigned from it. But look back all my co-worker in the company still working like that for more than 2 years. They have friends group. I cannot handle it so numb. Feel like in heel
that's why we have a lot of emo's in western culture
This video is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO STUPID
they take a few exceptions and make it as it was rule and idiots without critic power just agree and believe everything is true... PEOPLE WITH INTERNET HAVE NO BRAIN
the video is sooooooooo stupid that at 7:31 THE WOMAN IS CLEARLY SPEAKING ENGLISH, but they remove her natural voice, then dubbed in chinese and then subtitle it in english...
THE WHOLE VIDEO IS NARRATED IN ENGLISH SO WHY REMOVE THE INTERVIEWED THAT WAS SPEAKING ENGLISH? MISTAKE?
no they want to manipulate the speech... dont be idiot
STOP BEING BRAINLESS, START PAYING ATTENTION TO THE THINGS MEDIA SHOW YOU, MEDIA HASN'T THE POWER OF TRUTH ONLY THE POWER TO MANIPULATE IDIOTS.
DONT BE AN IDIOT
@@rafaellima381 lol, can you even lip read? She’s clearly speaking in Mandarin.
Also, if you want to present an alternative argument, then wrote down your sources. Where are the links again that discredit Vice’s work? Vice does their research very thoroughly. Stop being a troll online
It is crazy, so many countries allow this. In my 20’s I also worked simultaneously 2 jobs + university and I ended up in a hospital for a month with diagnosis exhaustion and burnout. Quit my jobs, left bf and took a break from my studies. After getting treated I started all over with a different mentality. I only do my own taskes, no more others work, working only from 9-5. Nothing less, nothing more. No extra hrs, unless those are paid etc. I realised, I do all the hard part and at the end my boss/ management collects bonuses/ dividends. I decided to work differently and my mental health is so much better thanks to that decision. Money isn’t worth ruining your mental health and overall wellbeing.
Oh Lord, this clip is literally showing folks working on a treadmill like a freakin’ hamster. This is extremely cruel and inhumane treatment of workers. It is so destructive to their mental and physical wellbeing. This supports the mindset that happiness involves struggle. Don’t buy the lie folks. 😊
Diagnosis fictitious.
Fantastic journalism. Thank you!
It really annoys me when the new gen being labeled as ungrateful lazy people. Little do they know that the new gen is embracing life more than wealth.I ask couple of youngsters about it and they told me “what’s the point accumalate so much wealth and relying too much on it to enjoy life.” While I do agree money have their significant role in bettering life but if you choose wealth over life then there’s a possibility you will discard life without you know it.
True wealth is intangible, it's immeasurable, it cannot be diminished and can only multiply when being shared. It's only bc people misunderstood the "cause" and the "effect" of wealth. The true wealth of so called really successful people is not in their companies, money, etc. It's in their spirit.
@Brian Mcclung it’s easy to jump into conclusion based on biased perspective. Like I said before, I acknowledged the role of money for a better cause but it doesn’t mean that money itself become our main goal to attain happiness. I lived in the society that value money more than life. I’ve seen lots of my colleagues send their parents to old folks home because for them their own parents are dead weight since they have been groom and taught to only make decision with the interest of money.
Try to understand my whole point and stop twisting my statement just because it doesn’t align with your stand. Again, I totally agree the importance of fortune but dismissing the value of life itself?
@Brian Mcclung "Child is the father of Man"
What does it matter if a man gains the whole world but loses his soul?
How do people get the luxury of having a job that gives enough time for personal needs and enough pay to afford everything needed to accomodate it? It feels like people like you are getting paid more than what you deserved or your bosses are charging insane fees to their client in order to afford the wage they're giving away.
this is heart-breaking, we only live once, all the money in the world means nothing if we're not happy, healthy, and have meaningful relationship with other people
But if they not work like that they cant afford for living. Thats not happy as well
Most people need that money to survive the present, for when they retire and secure themselves in case they get sick, not for leisure.
I think the real problem is, basic necessities to live are so high in cost that you have to do the hours to afford them. I've seen this everywhere, especially in boom towns. This is the direction capitalist driven society has headed, investment has drawbacks and it seems to fall all right on the actual workers.
@@adhipramanaoentoro2252 I don't know. I see this homeless guy who is always whistling and skipping down the street like he doesn't have a care in the world.
We don't think about money and work during last days on earth, well atleast us who have hearts...
The key is super strong work ethic abd productivity during allotted work time which should be a reasonable 35-40 hour week--- not living to work. This is different of course if you are running a biz and especially a start up biz.
I'm working in IT but I have a 9-18 Monday to Friday schedule and sometime I feel so Burnout from work and home events. I really feel for these people. The people of the world really need more PAUSES in their lives.
It really got me how she was saying that she feels tired and doesn't have time for anything. There are days like this when I know that I should just sleep but I'm procrastinating and taking hours from the resting time just because I feel like I need to spend time with myself, or just because I don't want tomorrow to come yet.
So many days already past, in which I haven't had a proper sleep schedule. For different reasons. I don't know if I'm going to ever had a stable sleeping schedule without waking up every morning feeling tired.
this is not just China, its a normalized thing in Asia in general. The burnout and slave-driving of young professionals is so damn depressing, it almost drove me to suicide. You have a population of driven and smart professionals who are pushed to their limit. Eventually I got hired to work for a European-owned tech company and was in shock when I saw my many benefits and all the leaves I could take. My boss and co-workers encouraged me to take many holidays (something I could never do in my old job), I could explore hobbies, and have time to sleep soundly. I can never bring myself to work for a locally-owned company ever again.
Its the same everywhere.
I'm in Asia. I only heard of 996 now, where exactly are you?
@@amberstale2628 me too bruh
@@amberstale2628 maybe the term is new, but the culture has been in existence all across Asia and SE Asia for years.
However, some in SE Asia do 996 without realising out of "not minding to work extra hours for the sake of the company" instead of this hard-line type of 996.
But it's technically 996 cuz deep down, you know you're doing these extra hours to show you're worthy a keep for the company or else you're replaceable - which you always are no matter what, unless you own the company.
Yeah you often hear the black companies of japan who exploit workers to their maximum.
Man surprised me most about humanity. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.
-Dalai Lama
deep.
this must be one of many reasons the Chinese government was after the Dalai Lama
Well said!!!
My point in a nutshell. Then you will probably get blamed and deemed weak for saying it…because “you are selfish and you want more” or something else…BS 😂
You stole that from a quote by a Buddhist monk lol
When the current wave of tech people came to San Francisco I saw them working in line waiting for the luxury bus to take them to work. Some said they would work on the bus and then work on the bus coming back. They also worked when they arrived home. Someone I met who worked at Adobe said on average a person lasted 3 years. When they left someone was waiting in line to take their place. During those 3 years you cannot keep up with advances in the industry so you likely would be out of work for an extended period (maybe years).
In my country, the trucking industry was just like that. If you didn't accept the illegal wages and bad work practices, bosses would say "if I trow the keys in the air, there are 100 other drivers waiting to catch them".
15-20 years later, compnay owners look at how pretty their trucks are sitting in the garages because they have no drivers. But instead of creating decent working conditions, they blame the drivers for not wanting to work.
u just slave for them , they wont pay u if they can
“If you dont do it someone else will.” God i’d hate to be under this manager
Edit: wow I didn’t expect there will be so many comments and likes. Guys trust me, i’ve been with these kind of managers and the only impact he had on me was anxiousness, feeling not good enough, burn-out and unmotivated. My current manager understood if i said something is out of my capacity. When my jobdesc suddenly enlarged and i couldnt handle it, she gave me two interns. I still have to do it anyway, i didn’t have to do it alone. Better managers exist, and please be one.
but thats the truth. its only based on a neverending stream of "others" that keep it running!
in every job on any place! every boss thinks that way! every single one!!! the really hard ones just spell it out!
It is true in alot of situations. Even in America.
That's not the manager, that's literally late capitalism
Had managers like that.
damn that saying is so fkn played out they even use it for this?. i have hated it since they also use it for “what you wont do for your man, someone else will” bs 😭 lol
As an employer i can't see how this would be beneficial outside of "appearances". I've found by being more lax about time off and reducing hours i get much better quality work out of my employees. When we gear up at certain times of the year everyone comes in often staying late without being asked or expected to. Take genuine care of your employees and they'll take care of you
This would be the case if it was just one or a small hand-full of companies. China, SK with new limitations, and Japan, all suffer from many companies that do this. Stretch out your investment and not your money. Take it to America, when I worked in politics for a month, all 90 employees worked 7am -10pm, 7 days a week for either average pay or none at all, due to volunteers. If your work culture is accepted, than there is an underlying problem.
Wish more employers were like you!
i SHARE THE EXACT SAME SENTIMENT in my company. Pay the team well, give them time for personal growth; passion and excellence is a standard in the work ethos.
Long hours are not productive, after a certain hours, a person becomes inefficient, and a waste of money...
ur business is trash thats why, we are talking bout big biz
Blessing live in Malaysia only 6/8 hours work 😊
Thanks for the vid.
I had a friend in Japan who was sleeping 4 hours, had 2 hours free in a day, and basically the rest of his day was work-related activity which included a 4 hour daily commute.
He was leaving depressed messages, it wasn't okay. Then I suggested to his that he work freelance like me.
He was living in an expensive part of Japan, so he couldn't do that. However, he did find contract based work that paid for overtime and his mood got much better. He stopped posting depressed messages after that.
I mean, there are alternatives... looks like i live in paradise
You may have saved his life with your suggestion. Good work!
@@okkami676 Maybe Baby!
@@emmysorbicularis1185 where do u live and what do u do
bless
No one ever said on their deathbed…’I wish I worked longer hours’
I dont glorify long work hours. But i dont glorify words on deathbed.
If only... I had ... bought ... a nicer... car...
[dies in Slave]
@Prav1976 You have made your life confused.
I've heard people say they wished they did more in life. Maybe they meant work more
Suicide rates are at an all time high. Trapped in a system only 1% want to be in.
Wow this really reminds me of my type of work as a caregiver, it's stressful work, dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia. I often time work double shifts 4 or 5 days out of the week so that my check can be something I can work with. The work is grueling and the turnover rate is high. 16 hr shifts are no joke after a while. Then sometimes after that I still can't sleep for reasons I don't understand sometimes my body is just on go mode. All though we are countries apart we share many similarities.
This is very common in Asia, in our country Pakistan we work from 10am till 9 or 10pm plus overtimes if a certain is very urgent, this may seem unusual to westerners but it's kind of dark side of having job in Asia.
it''s not unusual for westerners. plenty of people work 12 hours a day but those people have unions, lunch breaks and legally binding paid time off ( usually around 6 weeks a year) they also get paid overtime
Depends upon what work you do.
I teach chinese children online and was surprised at how many of my students basically never see their parents. :(
I'm surprised they even had the time or energy to have kids if they work that kind of schedule
@@cleone423 A lot of rich kids are sent to boarding school five days a week (only home on the weekends) beginning when they are 6 years old.
Welcome to the Matrix
What difference does it make? Damara. Please take this into diplomatic consideration. My whole family is from the American South. Our parents didn't graduate. Our parents fought in battles they had no idea how to navigate. As a result, we never knew our parents. We're not a result of our parents. My parents are still alive and it took me a long time to understand the bullshit they needed years to understand. My mom was head of household and the primary earner. Women were always equal to me. Now I have to make excuses everywhere I go. Fuck you.
@@ridesharebeware5747 What the hell are you on about
My prayers go out to all the young people who were never allowed to enjoy their youth for a mentally sick society😭
@@joku6764 WOW you’re so correct! Glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks that. They always tried to put me on antidepressants. But that I never believed that shit would work In the back of my conscience. Now I’m better than ever and now I gotta save my siblings.
The whole world is the same. But I agree. Yeah, China is definitely a mentally sick society.
@MudLee Our country has a high population count? Doesn't China have something like 1.4 billion people? People are trying to sympathize with China's labor culture and you just want to bash Americans. Get a grip, no American cares what you think.
no one is forcing them tho...they can choice to unemployed and broke!
@@joku6764 lol.
i even feel like that Gaokao exam also is so stressful. It is terrible
Eh.. it's stressful because you made it stressful. An exam can not hurt you. Cannot do harm to you. fuck that stupid exam then..try your hardest but fuck it
I worked like this for 6 months, for a politician. It was miserable. They wanted to renew my contract after for half of my previous pay-I didn't say no, but I did say "only if I can do it remotely"
Now I only make stuff for them once or twice a week. It lets me maintain a salary while working independently. Best bussiness decision I've took
You notice how the woman at the end said "lazy, incapable staff" like those exact words had been said to her multiple times in the past as a derogatory way to motivate harder work?
The funny thing is, laziness has produced many time-saving methods and inventions that allow workers to be more productive.
@@aminboumerdassi2334 I heard this at a Microsoft conference with a gentleman who graduated from a Michigan university. Unfortunately it seems we have moved away from this model, and gone straight to optimizing and min-maxing. I really miss working.
Company bosses, who do little work of their own comparative to what they make, push this propaganda of the "sin of laziness": the idea that being dissatisfied with your job means you're a layabout, that taking mental health seriously is just being weak, that working harder is some noble, selfless goal, despite the fact that they rarely if ever _reward_ that self-determination, _and_ despite the clear, proven negative effects it has on people.
Eventually, workers come to internalize this notion and start competing with each other, and using shame as a motivator on each other. Which, you know, benefits the bosses just fine. They convince their workers to work harder without having to compensate them, and they even do it to each other! Until the whole workforce is a neurotic mess that can't sit still, because they're constantly, subconsciously feeling unproductive, when we're _the most productive era in human history._ Just let that sink in for a second. People are genuinely feeling guilty about being unproductive at work, in the year that saw the beginning of *HOBBYIST SPACE TRAVEL.* We're not just talking "technically we make lots of food", we're talking about trillionaires, people who own individually own more wealth, technology, and power than _empires._ And none of that is because people like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk are just more creative and intelligent than anyone has ever been; it's 100% because of worker productivity.
It's times like this we all have to remember a certain quote from a certain movie: _You are not your job._
If you also take into consideration the other things she and the other interviewees said, you will see that she has no choice. If you don't work long hours you will be seen as such and if the layoffs come you will be the first to get cut. If there are no layoffs your peers might get a salary increase (albeit not much) or promotions while you don't. Or your employers might decide to fire you and there are a lot of people who are more than happy to take your place. Even if she leaves for another job the work culture will be the same so in order to survive what choices does she have? Unless she gets lucky like the 2nd lady or opens her own business (which might be harder).
If they're incapable, how would adding more hours improve that? Of course, quality doesn't come into it. Yeah, our product is shitty, but you get so much of it!
Meh, the lady defending the pratice is a joke. I used to be one of those guys took, working 80 hours a week. Then boss decided to take the business in a different direction and laid off my entire department at the drop of a hat. Lol working hard for the company. What a joke.
Absolutely right. What's the point working hard for someone who can throw you out anytime to cut costs
she is so broken its ridiculous. Living in singapore we see some people who are influenced in that direction too and they stop at nothing to make more money even though they hate their own lives, it's ridiculous how much they love money, they don't even spend a dime of it.
It looks totally ridiculous and stupid from out here but what do we know, how much does it cost to live in china? All I know is that a lot of folks around me also think its incredibly expensive to live here and save a ton of money when the cost of living honestly isn't ridiculous, its very easy to get trapped in a rat race even if you don't need to be in it.
I used to work like that too, but I was hourly so it was great
Exactly!
If these educated people are having problems with work and life, people with little education are out of luck.
I worked in traffic control in Canada and during "The Big Lift" project at one point I worked 34 days in a row of 18 up to 20 hour days in my 30s. This isnt just a China problem now.
as a chinese we can never see this type video in mainstream social media and it will be banned.
What I find so absurd is that people justify 996 with efficiency even though the exact opposite is what happens when you overwork the employees. There are dozens of studies that prove that people with a solid work-life-balance are way more productive than those who basically don't do anything but work. Especially in high-performing jobs this has to be considered.
Well said!
One women in the video was sort of proud of for work hard 996. This makes me feel disgusting.
If it needs more time, then it's not efficient at all, simple as that
If this is the case, slavery is most efficient
But literally nothing in China makes any sense
"I don't know what I'm looking at, Just swiping aimlessly" We're all really just living the same life huh?
Nice point
Yeah, really éh....!!😂👋🏼🇨🇦
Just don't do it.
anything to get her mind off work even if it means staring at wet paint
Not the same. :/
Thank you for making the documentary. I am 996 worker in China and felt tired, always not doing enough. You shaded the light 💡 on my struggle and maybes I am not the problem. But still on my way to find a job after being laid off my last 996 work. Maybe I should work harder to keep my job.
Or maybe you shouldn't give so much of your time and energy to a company that will just lay you off when it benefits them. Your employer is not your family and they are certainly not your friend.
@@baron0877 Thank you for your insight and advice. You remind me that I can give much of my time and energy to my family and friends. My fear of work came from my mom who always said that I should do the best or I am useless. She taught me the wrong idea and made me felt not enough. So much time and energy I put into work, I just want to prove that I have some value and can contribute.
@@BerryOng I think your mom's message was intended to help, but I personally believe that the key is to do YOUR best, not THE best. So long as you are an employee and not part of ownership, the company doesn't deserve all of your waking time. You should work hard and efficiently during the hours that you were hired for, and only those hours (unless you receive overtime pay!).
@@baron0877 Thank you for your reply. I cannot agree more. And what a coincidence that my mom taught me to work all my waking time for whole year non-stop. You have great insight and thanks for sharing it with me. 😄
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
Yet they ask why people don’t want to have kids. They barely have time for themselves 😕 this is sad to see
Yet there are more than a billion Chinese
@@TeRRm0s Yet you make a dumb comment. Currently China imposed a 4-child policy because a lot of young folks don't want to have children anymore. It used to be that everyone was having children but times has changed; China is heading into a downfall and they know it. See PolyMatter's videos about it: ruclips.net/p/PLR5tswn4SFyUOm3QusvlFGbPCCAN_uXnK
@@TeRRm0s for now...
@@TeRRm0s they would have been 2 billion...chinese are great ppl...they controlled their population without outside pressure ..they are honourable...they decided to control population because they went through huge humiliation at the hand of japanese and UK...god bless chinese culture
@@jagatdave +1 social credit point
There are numerous studies showing overtime makes you less productive after a couple of weeks. Better to do a sustainable 40 hour week and also have a life outside of work.
Hell studies show us just working a five day work week is hectic enough. Wont lie I work 4 10 hour shifts I love it.
that may be true but people should not oppose 996 on the basis of it being inneficient for companies but on the basis of it being inhumane and in violition of human dignity
I am a IT manager, and when someone of my staff attempts to solve a problem with working serious overtime, I kick them out of the office (or try to get them away from the computer in case of hime office). It's way better to have a clear mind to solve a problem. Trying to brute force a solution often just creates more problems (often only visible much later). Nothing against working an hour longer once in a while if you are close to getting something done, but that should be the exception.
@@fn8772 I mean that's the whole point. Working 8 hours a day is kinda useless unless in a customer service position and even than McDonald'sstays open 24 hours a day. Just like walmart.
Love that you are defending the 40 hour work week like it’s a good thing. It’s a relic of the past.
996 is a dream come true. We work minimum 12 hours to maximum 16 hours in India in the hospitality industry.
India dirty
Then it is a sick country
Does anyone know of more channels that post documentaries like these? Looking to improve my Chinese by listening…
Thanks!
new word for slavery, 996.
It sucks, but has nothing to do with slavery. Don’t be overdramatic.
bcoz of online school we hace 9027--- 9 am to 2 am 7 days a week. Not exaggerating.
@@matheusmarques7009 you are slave in communist society another number to be replaced. This is modern slavery.
@@matheusmarques7009 its slavery dude don't suger coat it
It not slavery. You get paid and ultimately don’t have to do it. You can get pressured but you won’t get whipped, beaten, or sold like merchandise for not doing it. It’s a horrible work culture.
My uncle passed away, he was SR software engineer at a company. He was young and unmarried, he took his work way seriously and his health very lightly. One day he died in cab due to heart attack while he was going to office.
After his passing, the world didn't stop spinning. His ex-company didn't just immediately go bust either. His user account passwords were reset and his work were parceled out to other employees. Nothing significant happened as a result of this incident.
@@wshyangify true. Organisations don't love u. Western world for example is in India for very same reason, cheap labour and slaves
@@rupeshf and the western companies are the only ones that are paying reasonably in India. Not all obviously but most do, if it wasn't for these companies most of the youth would be at home masturbating their life away.
Indian companies will pay you half of that with no other benefits.
How old was he?
@@BenQotsa he himself looking like a uncle
what a well produced documentary
In indonesia we did it but 776.
7am - 7pm for 6 days.
I don't mind being called lazy and having a smaller salary as long as I'm happy 😁
the richest, most powerful people on earth are lazy smart people. all of this is a scam. i agree, just be happy, it'll be over before you know it
ok lazy.
@@braesidebikes4344 That's why I quit my job and became my own boss. I use to work over 80 hours a week. It was great pay but ridiculous hours and overtime
I just want a comfortable life with normal things; nothing extravagant. But the system is rigged against the non-wealthy. How much of your income is going towards rent? And a bank won't give you a mortgage with monthly payments much lower than your current rent because according to them, you don't earn enough to pay it.
It reminds me when I used to work construction I worked up to 60 hours a week and the only good thing I made was a good paycheck but I was being paid less than what I was supposed to because what I was doing I was suppose to get paid somewhere around 15 to 18 an hour but I was being paid 11 only. On top of that we worked hell of long hours waking up super early in the morning and get out after 12 and 15 hours of work and only get about 3 to 5 hours of sleep and a boss who had no compassion of who the crew was and how exhausted they were as long as they were making money for him. I lost the job because of covid and I got a job in Burlington as a Receiving Associate even though I was making $2 less than what I did in construction I had a fit schedule and plenty of time to plan my own things outside of work and not to feels stressed out by having to work for an ungrateful boss. But now I'm back doing the same thing again after 2 years but with a better company and better payment and benefits, it's all about looking for something better and most importantly what makes you happy😊
Studies say that after a 52 hours work week the productivity falls off a cliff, even people working 70 hour weeks still only produce as if they would have worked 52 hours a week. People just starts working slower when the work week is long.
When you are tired & unmotivated because you are overworked you also start making a lot of mistakes too.
I work 10 hour days from Monday to Thursday, friday and sat I work 12 hour days. Sunday is the only day off. But I'm only scheduled to work 4 days a week but I chose to work the extra days, sometimes 7 days a week😁
It’s just modern slavery, the lower our purchasing power gets, the more people will be forced to slave away all day for big corporations
@@diamonddogs6037 Do you enjoy it? Or are you trying to save up money or get a promotion. Do you feel tired? I know some people don't need much sleep. My brother has like three jobs just because he likes working.
@@talithasuya8908 I dont need to work long hours. It's just optional for me. I have a strict schedule that I follow through out the week wether its working or personal life, I make sure I complete all those and it becomes just another day. I always lived by if you lived everyday instead of waiting for that weekend to enjoy life then everyday becomes just another day on my calendar. But your bro working 3 jobs, man that's nuts. But props to him.
Wow, I’m doing this for 5 years and it never gave it a name!
996 sounds amazing
I work from 8:30 to 6. Then after dinner break from 9-12. I don’t eat lunch. I think what people mistake often is that the efficiency is not necessarily going to down. The KPI that suffers the most is the overall quality (assuming that quality is not a factor when you calculate for efficiency). There’s so much work to be done that you are forced to streamline your workflow, optimize SOP’s constantly, that in the end you champion quantitative output but ultimately the quality suffers. As a designer that’s really inconvenient as my portfolio is not enriching itself with quality contents. So on weekends I work on portfolio projects to level up my design output and to fill up my portfolio.
The fact that Nicole doesn't want her real face and voice revealed, probably because she doesn't want to be blacklisted from this industry for revealing how terrible it is 😥
and deal with reprisals.....
What’s worse, if her boss found the video, he/she will bombard all of the company’s both private and open Wechat group to investigate who she is, and in the most of the case, the person would be find out and fired
No, the whole industry is complaining about it. Everyone knows everyone else is complaining. Yet, no one could or is willing to escape such working conditions because the salary is really high. New graduates from good universities can get half-million RMB in their first year and salaries can double in few years. While the median income in metropolitans in China is 80K.
COMMUNIST CHINA WHAT DO YOU EXPECT.
There is a Netflix documentary about a chinese company that moved to US. They used both chinese and americans hand work. The chinese were far better in producing (because they were used to work in a non human work system) but the american started to get injured, rejected dangerous tasks that american wouldnt accept but chinese would. And the sindicate pushed the company to attend the America safety rules. They dont care about their people and see themself as hard workers while the rest of world is lazy.
This isn't different from dying in a factory floor, it is just slower and more cruel.
The manager says the efficiency is lower for people working less. In fact, it's the opposite. People working too many hours lose themselves into low efficiency habits and are generally too aloof and tired to be able to see and correct those. People can work efficiently for about 30 hours per week. The other 42 are worked shitly.
I've done 16h work. It is like 8h, but takes longer.
It about the fact that the more hours they get you to work the more products they can get out for money, they think they can make infinite money but other governments are trying are now saying "no that's silly and unrealistic there's no such thing" and duh of course but... it takes time to wein businesses and china off these things trying to get them to stop.
The Germans discovered this LONG ago. They work 4, 8-hour days. 32 hours a week! That's it. The quality of their work is self-evident, as-is their lifestyle. Asia are merely working themselves into an early grave for the profit of their OverLord Managers. SICK!
@@1vw4me what? No. As a German I can from experience (and statistics) say most work 40h weeks (full time).
16 hour work is NOT like 8 hours at all. I did that once or twice, when I was a security guard, and it was fucking brutal. Your brain only wants to concentrate on doing your job so much then concentration starts to fade, memory problems, willpower drains, potential for depression, start cutting corners on your diet, etc.
@@damienholland8103 I meant in the sense you aren't really working. You are just there. You are still functional in a broad sense, but you might not be for long.
Really looking forward to the sequel, 12127.
You should do an episode on investment banking or financial analysts
I'm glad the younger generation in Asia are starting to think and talk about their mental health and wellbeing over career, talking about that stuff has been a stigma in alot of cultures.
Imagine what the older generations say about them. It's always a "kids these days" conversation with seniors talking about younger people.
There are better options overseas! Why stay there? That’s not life! That’s slavery!
Not in China. Yes in other Asian countries they are thinking freely and protesting. But in China the government is currently cracking down on younger generation.
@@ineffably_described yup it’s always older generations saying they had it bad so others should too instead of trying to better the system.
China is the worst country in the world to play video games you need a government Id because people under the age of 29 are only allowed to play 3 hours of video games cause they want the young generation to work as slaves
This should be a wake up call to many people who are simply existing but not truly living. What use is money without having time for relationships and time for simply relaxing. The health problems both physically and mentally are the biggest threat. It's awesome to see these young people making changes before it's too late
Sometimes is not something you choose, you work because you have to work somewhere in order to eat, have a hause, medicines, a family... and as it has been said in the video: it's so easy to fall into poverty if you don't work extra hard.
A counter point however is: Is it worth it to grind like this in your 20s to then work your way up the career ladder into a better more cushy job so you can enjoy life from your mid 30s onwards?
Choice is the luxury of the powerful. People have to pay the bills to look after themselves and their family.
@@HtheKing Only the executives get the option of a cushy job in their 30s and early retirement. The rest will suffer until their deaths, for compensation that is eaten up by the cost of the cities.
A lot more people are realising this, which is why the cost of housing caught up, especially in tech cities where "high salaries" are offset by unaffordable housing. Luxuries are optional, food, housing and healthcare are not. As long as those basic needs aren't met or are extraordinarily expensive, workers have little power over their working conditions
Honestly, Corona did some good because it gifted people stuff like home office, and ever since, companies were pressured to offer a better work-life balance to their employees. People also realized that companies don't need them to be at their workplace all the time. Some types of jobs like the IT sector improved greatly ever since Corona. I got a friend who's now working from home all the time, making some nice money. He turned into a nomad and is constantly traveling around the world now cuz he only needs the Internet and a laptop for his work - some airline stuff.
This is so sad. I'm in North America and I was going to take a higher job within my company but decided that I didn't want to bring home my job for the extra $$ it's not worth it having to work so much and jot living life. Life is to short to begin with.
Your just lazy
I've worked a 995 for an extended period of time. I found the schedule technically manageable; you don't have a life outside of work and you're exhausted both mentally and physically, so you tend to make more mistakes. It's really a terrible way to manage your workforce.
In China its not about productivity, its about the CCP's need to control their populace and prevent any political change in the country. Keep the peasants too busy and exhausted to protest or try to affect political change, keep the middle class happy with luxuries and rising wages so they wont want change, and bribe or bully the upper class into submission. That way no one can try to change the system and the CCP retains total control of the country.
@@arthas640 dude, that's smart 😮
@@arthas640 agreed. And in the West corporations large or small are more and more outsourcing to China or India creating such extended competition to the remaining market that employees perpetuate this nasty cycle by selling their skills on sites like fivrr less than half off!!
@@s7r49 that's one thing alot of people dont pay attention too: they work more but lose more to taxes and start eating out more so they end up making less then they think. I knew a guy who worked a ton on a salaried job at higher pay but didnt have time for dinner or breakfast so he started getting breakfast and coffee each morning and grabbed dinner on the way home and sometimes lunch too so hed be spending an extra $20+ dollars a day just on food. Stress can lead to snacking and make you desire fancier foods as stress relief too
@@elli6432 something like that happened where I live. Estimators in construction made Foreman wages (at the time 10-20% above journeyman wages or about $25-$30/hr) but then wages rose to closer to $40/hr so some people moved to cheaper areas and worked remotely so they could undercut other people. Before long guys out of state in areas with lower cost of living and lower taxes were working for $25/hr when it should have been $40/hr so your choices became work for nothing remotely or find a job in the city and drive 3+ hours a day.
Yet as a (maybe spoiled) German I still think 8 hours at the office is a very long time… 6 is fine for concentration and productivity and a good work-life-balance.
6??? Usual is 7.5 hours in UK
@Lo Me Then don't sit at home, go outside.
@Lo Me 6 hours is a long time to sit in an office being watched constantly. Not to mention people also commute 2h+ to the office and back home.
@Lo Me don't know about you, but if I worked six hours a day I wouldn't be sitting at home the rest of the time lmao. I'd walk my dog everyday, spend more time with the family, watch a movie, finish that book...
@Lo Me you do know they're the most productive economy per hour worked in the entire world right? Their standard of living is very close to the United States and they work much less than America and way less than China
These are chef hours, in nyc ,in USA. I basically work 8am to 9pm 5 days a week. On my days off I working from home as well more 6 hours. In the past chef hour were 14 hours minimum.
But now more and more Chinese young people begin to realize that working really really hard can not bring them to rich,can not bring the to upper class.
The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, he said:
'Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.
That’s deep
Well said
This is NOT a Dalai lama quote. It's an islamic saying.
Thxs for sharing. Really deep food for thought.
@@enea_7280 you missed the point , even low pay jobs you can cover the bills and have a few quid to spare . If not you should relocate to a cheaper area and live within your means. It’s about not overworking yourself and sacrificing too much time and health to acquire money. A job should simply be a means to gain enough to be comfortable, but devoting as little energy too it as possible without getting fired. Focus your energy into more enjoyable things. I’ve worked some pretty terrible jobs for minimum wage when I had too so I understand that aspect and not everyone is fortunate enough to change their situation right now but I believe most can. Anyway I enjoy the quote 🙏 have a good day.
There are studies going on right now that are indicating that 954 is even more beneficial to mental health and productivity than 955. 996 is insane.
I know and I love it. Didn't productivity actually go up or something? I'm getting ready for the excuses. "We can't adopt that, it won't work here!" "What if we tried?" "What if it fails!" "Well then we'll know, won't we?" "I'm not willing to take that risk, are you?" "Y E S"
Did the study tell you another little secret no one gets to retire early working for someone else?
Actually when i visited my grandparents in the village here in Africa growing up we didn't work on Wednesday becuase it was a traditional religious spiritual day and on Sundays cause it was a Christian religious day, rest of the time we were up by sunrise and working whatever the work was for that day, its important to rest
I think its still in practice now even
I vaguely remember that most of the time they noticed no productivity change at all for the company but it lead to the employees having more productive lives to learn more skills, work other jobs, etc (Better for the economy) and have better mental health.
I worked on zoom in collab with this Chinese company. It’s not even 9am - 9pm. It’s like 9am - 3am. Dude got 5 hours of sleep and got 1-2 days break. It’s insane. There was mobile work during the breaks too
I worked 665 in a warehouse in Texas for two years. Hours were 6am-6pm Monday-Friday. These working conditions are also very common in US. Wall Street guys usually work 7am-7pm Monday-Saturday, sometimes even on Sunday.
Big deal - they get well oaid
The real irony is, that science has demonstrated that the brain works BETTER when it's not stressed, so it should be the focus of the leaders to promote balance of work life.
They don't want smart people. They want machines.
Which is why some European countries are experimenting with the 6 hours work day. Btw, I was surprised by how little people work in Denmark when I lived there. Yet they are one of the richest countries in EU. And they are proud of their work-life balanced culture.
@@HelloKitty-kb7ji Damn, 6 hour work day? That would be heaven.
The reason why CCP doesn't want that is to ensure that Chinese people don't protest against it.
China and science don't mix, otherwise they wouldn't be Nazi Germany 2.0
I know a Chinese girl who moved to Norway for a new job. She often stays in the office 3-4 hours after everyone has left. She is accustomed to it. Her boss always has to force her to go home 😂
does she get much done in the 3-4 hours though?
In Sweden they basically don’t even allow you to work overtime. And they force you to use your 30 days holiday per year
@@Stierenkloot which is good thing that not many countries seems to follow it.
Same in India i work in 6 day a week officially 8-5 job but it actually 8-6,7 almost avg 10 hour a day ...
Very stressed and toxic environment
what do you do
Look up james scholz…bro studied everyday for 10 hrs…non stop for 2 years….still does….by nothing but himself nobody enforced any laws on him
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.
Norway try to prevent overworking by having strict rules on how much you are allowed to work. You HAVE to have 4 weeks off every summer and you have to have 2 days off every week. I'm happy about that, because working too much can be bad for your health long term.
Also for your relationship and therefore for the people around you. You need time and actual leisure to be a good partner, parent, friend, child, sibling... Otherwise other people will suffer because of your selfish pursuit of money and career "success". The Nordic/European model is much better than this sort of madness.
In my country the highest income can barely reach 1000 dollar and the lowest income can be even fewer than 150 dollar , we don't have fixed working hours , the boss can ask to work 23 hours if they wanted and we can be easily replaced and kicked out , and the worst part is the way they ask us to do things that don't fall under our job, like for example as teachers we must only teach kids not to clean the classroom , it's so fucked where i live i want to die
@@lisaw150 these are good jobs in good companies, it's the price of getting ahead in life. you can always settle for a smaller car, smaller house, longer commute, backpacking vacations and crappier education for your kids with an average career. nobody is forcing you to live the high life.
or you can always live in north korea, the remaining true communist where everyone but the officials are paid the same (crap). you wouldnt feel that miserable when everyone you know are equally poor.
@@dreamoffreedom4062 go away from there at all costs
China is paradise for slaves....🤡
“If you dont do it someone else will.” God i’d hate to be under this manager
Don't blame the manager blame the culture. I'm not surprised if the manager himself works 15hour days. Many asian countries are like this.
All manager did it
It happens all over the world, not just in China. Too much profit desire, cuts salaries and forces people to work harder. See Corona, jobs lost everywhere but no of billionaires increased tremendously during this period.
the higher-ups probably told him that too
This is what almost every manager says anywhere lol. Shit, this is what parents say.
I used to be a field engineer in oil and gas. I'd work 11 days in a row - 12 hours each day. The work environment, people, and lifestyle were absolutely terrible. I developed shingles in my early twenties from the stress overload. The salary and high bonuses just weren't worth it. I've been in a new engineering career the last eight years, and I couldn't be happier. I never work more than 40 hours a week, and it's great.
It’s interesting to see them start to do things how we used to do it, and we’re starting to go the 996 route.
There a concept called the Night shift.
It’s when you hire more people who job is to take over after the regular workers go home to rest and not work 24/7.
Everyone gets rest and the work gets done ✅
What baffles me is that Chinese companies don't all have workers there 24/7. You would think that they could have 3 shifts of 8 hours a day and just hire the best employees from their competition. _Poaching_ talent from other companies is a viable strategy if you have no morality.
in china a lot of blue collar work is done in shifts but because of the lack of unions most companies also dont pay overtime. if you have full 24 hour days with 3 shifts you are only paying full wages without getting the free overtime you would normally get. so i think thats a big reason why they dont just hire more people.
Toyota did an experiment in their workshops in Norway. Two shifts each 6 hours. 6-12 and 12-18. This will allow for costumers to leave car in workshop before work and pick it up after work. Workers are happy and costumers are happy. Improving costumer rating and in the end bottom line. An other example is the open space office. Which is proven to reduce productivity and generally is much worse that single or shared offices. So what does most companies do? 8 hour days and in open office. ALL of them, this is knowledge known for decades and yet they insist of picking the worst possible option, why? control! plain and simple, Control! management want control, and management are over represented in scoring high in psychopathy. There are many in management that gets a high making your life miserable.
At my job, there are 3 shifts. 12 hours day, 12 hours night, with the third shift covering weekends. The factory never stops operations, it's a constant flow
@@richcast66 that seems to suck, it should be at least 5 shifts.
That executive woman sounds like she's on her way towards depression and/or suicide, or quitting her job entirely.
Hopefully the last one
If she's making 80k a year and doesnt have any time to spend money anyway, then she should be able to save and invest quite a lot and get out of this after a few years. Then work a laid back job and subsidise her lifestyle with those investments... i hope she isnt wasting it all on a huge appartment she isnt ever using or status symbols.
Hopefully Quitting
You can’t just quit in China. You are a mere cog in the communist machine. If you quit, it’ll show in your record and you’re unemployable. Social credit will go down and you’ll never get a decent job. Blackmail on every level of life.
@@Soff1859 Chinese people are very limited to what they can invest in. its not easy to buy American stocks for example.
In the USA it is pretty much 955 is the grind with a lunch. Only major issue in USA is few holidays. A better work schedule would be 934 in the future it would be great to have 4 workdays that are 6 hours
955 is nothing.
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
that why slave make u rich and dumb sheep american is one of them 😂😂