Kuaishou ends gruelling overtime policy as China’s Big Tech try to reform controversial 996 working culture
- Kuaishou’s overtime arrangement was first introduced in January ahead of the company’s IPO, but has now been cancelled
- The culture of 996 – working 9am to 9pm, six days a week – has become an unwritten rule for most of China’s tech industry
Kuaishou Technologies, operator of China’s second-most popular short-video platform, will end its gruelling, companywide overtime schedule as Big Tech in China begins to slowly address the controversial, and sometimes deadly, work culture known as 996.
The overtime arrangement known as big week/small week, where employees were required to work a six-day week every fortnight, was first implemented in January ahead of the company’s IPO.
The company offered double wages for working weekends and triple time for anyone who worked on statutory national holidays.
More than half the employees were already working overtime on weekends, but that policy was extended to the entire company, Kuaishou staff said at the time. But some people welcomed the longer hours because they could make more money, one person said.
Kuaishou did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Chinese tech firms, known for their aggressive pace of expansion, have increasingly been accused of overworking employees. The culture of 996 – working 9am to 9pm, six days a week – has become an unwritten rule for many of the country’s tech companies, in some cases with tragic consequences for employees.