ByteDance worker dies after collapsing at gym, again raising 996 discussion on Chinese social media
- The employee in his late 20s died after an hour-long workout at a company gym, according to an internal memo from the TikTok owner
- No cause of death has been given, but news of tech workers’ deaths has raised public scrutiny of the pressures in the industry
“We’re extremely saddened by the passing of our colleague and extend our deepest condolences to our colleague’s family and friends,” a ByteDance representative said. “We will do our utmost to support our colleague’s family.”
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No reason has been given for the employee’s death, but it has again drawn attention to the pressures that technology workers face in China.
The ByteDance worker, surnamed Wu, started to feel dizzy at around 7pm on Monday after an hour-long workout, according to the first memo sent out on Wednesday morning. He told a coach at the gym that he might be feeling the symptoms of low blood sugar, so he was given a glass of sweetened water. Two security guards certified in first aid were called for help, and Wu was sent to a hospital within half an hour, the memo said.
The second memo sent Wednesday afternoon said Wu passed away at 1:43pm, 41 hours after he was sent to the hospital.
The incident renewed discussions on Chinese social media about the pressures of working for Big Tech companies and the expected long hours referred to as 996 – an unofficial but common schedule of 9am to 9pm, six days per week. The incident was the 12th top trending topic on the microblogging platform Weibo on Wednesday morning.
Some sudden deaths of technology workers have been caused by cardiac arrest, a leading cause of death in China. Sudden cardiac deaths, caused by a loss of heart function, account for around 500,000 deaths per year in the country, an average of about 1,500 deaths per day, across all age groups, according to a 2020 report from China’s National Centre for Cardiovascular Diseases.
Health issues at Chinese Big Tech companies, which usually offer employees higher-than-average salaries with demanding work targets, have been under increasing public scrutiny in recent years. The 996 shorthand has become an infamous topic in the country and a constant target of criticism.