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For anyone that does not know: > The 996 working hour system (Chinese: 996工作制) is a work schedule practiced by some companies in the People's Republic of China

For anyone that does not know: > The 996 working hour system (Chinese: 996工作制) is a work schedule practiced by some companies in the People's Republic of China. It derives its name from its requirement that employees work from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, 6 days per week; i.e. 72 hours per week.[1][2][3][4][5][6] * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/996_working_hour_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/996_working_hour_system

SSLy 5y ago
It says so in the article too
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
opan 5y ago
Thanks. I'd heard of this before, but my first thought when seeing three numbers describing time is work/play/sleep (commonly 8 of each in the west from what I understand), and it wasn't quite sounding right to me for this context.
paulcole 5y ago
I was confused by this as well until it was cleared up in the first sentence of the article.
freebee87 5y ago
The taxonomy of jobs in china: Local government positions (<20 hours per week). Relatively low pay. Little job risk . This positions are by design very easy (铁饭碗 or Iron Rice Bowl). There are long vacations and expectations are very low. If you want to spend your time, smoking, having lunch, and going for walks this is the place for you. Domestic SME’s (20 - 40 hours per week). Moderate job risk - usually from business failure. Think of your small town dentist. If he is on vacation skiing for 2 weeks, no one will complain but business might hurt a bit. Expect Basic, low levels of competence. Regional and Central Government (40 hours per week). No job risk - substantial risk of being reassigned. One thing the CCP does well is to hire relatively competent people to higher levels positions of governance and MOTIVATE them to accomplish tasks. You will be surprised how many have a reasonable command of English and a daughter with a degree from Oxford. Division of Non Chinese MNC (40-50 hours per week). Moderate job risk. MNC jobs are considered high status in china because foreign employers are thought to treat employees relatively well. In general they respect local laws and avoid intrusive personal questions. Not considered top of the pecking order. Large Domestic Exporters (50-60 hours per week). Little job risk - substantial risk of being reassigned. These are the beating heart of Chinese productivity and generally have high quality management. Usually has a local flavor of Taylorism. Loyalty is extremely important. Expect a confusing bureaucracy like any large organization. Domestic Tech companies (70 hours per week - 996). The pace of product development and iteration within these companies is INSANE. It is like having a three day hackathon only to discover that the team from Missouri solved the problem last night while you were out getting pizza. Code quality, Engineering Practices, IP development does not matter as long as you can crank something out there first. They pay very well by Chinese standards and expect employees to live on the company facilities. Marriage within the company is encouraged as it is thought to foster loyalty. It is common for People burn out very quickly from these jobs.
- ailun 5y ago
  Should note that this describes white-collar jobs. More than half the population works blue-collar or service jobs, and few of them are working less than 6 days a week.
- mleonhard 5y ago
  Please expand your acronyms: SME and MNC.
  - yourapostasy 5y ago
    SME: Small-Medium Enterprise. MNC: Multi-National Corporation
marcellus23 5y ago
I know two others have commented here but I really want to point out the ridiculousness of this comment. It's literally answered _in the first sentence of the article_. Why did you think this was necessary?

SSLy 5y ago

It says so in the article too

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

opan 5y ago

Thanks. I'd heard of this before, but my first thought when seeing three numbers describing time is work/play/sleep (commonly 8 of each in the west from what I understand), and it wasn't quite sounding right to me for this context.

paulcole 5y ago

I was confused by this as well until it was cleared up in the first sentence of the article.

freebee87 5y ago

The taxonomy of jobs in china: Local government positions (<20 hours per week). Relatively low pay. Little job risk . This positions are by design very easy (铁饭碗 or Iron Rice Bowl). There are long vacations and expectations are very low. If you want to spend your time, smoking, having lunch, and going for walks this is the place for you. Domestic SME’s (20 - 40 hours per week). Moderate job risk - usually from business failure. Think of your small town dentist. If he is on vacation skiing for 2 weeks, no one will complain but business might hurt a bit. Expect Basic, low levels of competence. Regional and Central Government (40 hours per week). No job risk - substantial risk of being reassigned. One thing the CCP does well is to hire relatively competent people to higher levels positions of governance and MOTIVATE them to accomplish tasks. You will be surprised how many have a reasonable command of English and a daughter with a degree from Oxford. Division of Non Chinese MNC (40-50 hours per week). Moderate job risk. MNC jobs are considered high status in china because foreign employers are thought to treat employees relatively well. In general they respect local laws and avoid intrusive personal questions. Not considered top of the pecking order. Large Domestic Exporters (50-60 hours per week). Little job risk - substantial risk of being reassigned. These are the beating heart of Chinese productivity and generally have high quality management. Usually has a local flavor of Taylorism. Loyalty is extremely important. Expect a confusing bureaucracy like any large organization. Domestic Tech companies (70 hours per week - 996). The pace of product development and iteration within these companies is INSANE. It is like having a three day hackathon only to discover that the team from Missouri solved the problem last night while you were out getting pizza. Code quality, Engineering Practices, IP development does not matter as long as you can crank something out there first. They pay very well by Chinese standards and expect employees to live on the company facilities. Marriage within the company is encouraged as it is thought to foster loyalty. It is common for People burn out very quickly from these jobs.

ailun 5y ago
Should note that this describes white-collar jobs. More than half the population works blue-collar or service jobs, and few of them are working less than 6 days a week.
mleonhard 5y ago
Please expand your acronyms: SME and MNC.
- yourapostasy 5y ago
  SME: Small-Medium Enterprise. MNC: Multi-National Corporation

marcellus23 5y ago

I know two others have commented here but I really want to point out the ridiculousness of this comment. It's literally answered _in the first sentence of the article_. Why did you think this was necessary?