Regarding the Chinese 996 working hour system, it has aroused a hot discussion as early as 2019.

It all started when Youzan, a Chinese Internet company, announced that it was implementing the 996 working hour system, which refers to working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. After one employee posted the system online, disputes arose, and doubts continued. Later, Youzan Company responded that this is definitely a good working system.

In March 2019, the 996 working hour system aroused widespread discussion again.

A project called 996ICU quickly spread on GitHub., an online community where programmers around the world can share code and software tools. On the domain page the project points to, an anonymous user says that Internet workers working under the 996 system may be at risk of poor health and may need to stay in the intensive care unit.

On April 11, the 996 working hour system was once again on the cusp.

Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group, claimed at an internal communication event that the “996 working system is a blessing; many companies and people don’t even have the opportunity to experience it.” On the same day, Richard Liu, the founder of e-commerce company JD.com, also stated that he would not accept any slackers who try to balance life and work.

From 2019 until now, “996” no longer specifically refers to the working system of “going to work at 9 am, leaving at 9 am, six days a week”, but generally refers to the abnormal overtime phenomenon prevalent in China. The scope of its coverage has rapidly spread from Internet companies to other industries.

While this abnormal working system has aroused huge attention and heated debate, we must reflect on a question: Is the “996” working hours system really reasonable and worth advocacy?

With a emphasis on improving the quality of employment and achieving decent employment, I think the “996” working hour system is obviously runs counter to this.

A prerequisite must be clarified that the 996 working system violates the labor law. Article 36 of the Labor Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates: The State shall practice a working hour system wherein labourers shall work for no more than eight hours a day and no more than 44 hours a week on the average. Therefore, there is no room for discussion of such clearly illegal acts by employing companies.

So, why are so many people still willing to accept “996” or want to participate in it?

On the surface, most companies that implement “996” do not force their employees to do so. But if employees do not comply with the system, they may be underpaid in bonuses, appraisals, promotions, etc. The existence of such “hidden regulations” is in fact an implicit means of coercion.

“If you refuse ‘996’, you will get a low performance score from your boss. If you get a low score, you will be forced to leave. As you change your job around, you are still in these ‘996’ companies. At the end of such cycle, you might be turned down by all the companies because you change jobs too often.” For those who were born in the countryside and finally took root in big cities, for those who graduated from normal colleges and finally squeezed into large enterprises, and for those who have dedicated most of their youth to the enterprise, the cost of resigning and changing careers is simply unaffordable. In such cases, rejecting 996 is tantamount to breaking one’s future and safety nets.

Therefore, it is not so much that there are still many people willing to devote themselves to “996”, as that is the industry’s “unspoken rules” that they dare not easily oppose. As much as they want to escape, they have to compromise.

Others argue that China is still a developing country, so it is normal for workers to work overtime. This is undoubtedly a misconception. When “996” has become a blatant “cultural phenomenon”, many companies are just blindly following the trend, even failing to figure out that long working hours do not equal high work efficiency and the spirit of hard work does not equal supporting “996”.

Rather than believing that “996” is a blessing, I prefer to treat it as an alarm.

While “996” unfortunately becomes a highly admired corporate culture, we should be wary of the prevalence of two extremes: overworked workloads and pointless overtime. The former is asking you to do something when you know you can’t finish it. The latter is asking you to do something when you know you don’t have to do it. For individuals, it is endless wastage.

Undoubtedly, working overtime is a misrepresentation of effort.

While working overtime is seen as a collective effort and unity, as long as someone gets off work on time, he or she will be regarded as an anomaly. How many people can only choose to “accompany” others to work overtime in order not to be an anomaly? When working overtime is linked to performance and promotion, how many people should be “willing” to work overtime?

To protect the rights and interests of all workers, our society needs to promote a better working hour system and a better legal guarantee. For enterprises, rather than racking their brains to extend the working hours of employees, it is better to find ways to improve the treatment of workers, in attracting and retaining talent more efforts. In this way, employees will have the confidence and expectation of stable work, and the enterprise will have the real power for lasting development.