What is the actual situation of long-time work "996" that will become normal in China?

It was found out that Japanese companies are working abnormally, such as overtime work for a long time,Female employees were forced to suicide overworkAs in the case of the incident, in China, mainly high-tech enterprises, "from 9 am to 9 pm", "6 days a week working" "996"The actual employment situation called normalization is becoming a social problem. BritishBBCI actually heard about Chinese workers working in such a system of work, and I am approaching the actual situation of 996 duties.

BBC - Capital - Young Chinese are sick of working long hours
http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20180508-young-chinese-are-sick-of-working-overtime

25-year-old Lee Ji-Pen who works for an e-commerce company in the suburbs of Shanghai has been working from 9 o'clock in the morning and 6 days a week to leave the office at 8 o'clock in the evening. Although Lee was able to leave the office at 8 p.m., it is normal that many young workers taking jobs in China will do 996 duties to work from 9 am to 9 pm every week for 6 days a week .

As a flat employee of an e-commerce company, Mr. Li is in charge of doing job description of toys and back packs dealt with in the company and is working on overseas customers such as Australia, USA and Europe. The president who thought that it would be a good idea to work everyday to match the business hours of overseas companies expected Lee to work without holidays. However, Mr. Lee refuses to work without a holiday and is on work six days a week.


Mr. Lee's monthly salary is 3,500 RMB (about 60,000 yen), but this amount is equivalent to half of the rent required to borrow one bedroom (1 LDK) in the suburbs of Shanghai. Because it is difficult to rent a room with this income, Lee is living with three roommates and four people borrowing one room.

Lee was from a college located in the lower ranking, majoring in English rather than science and technology. For this reason, it is an overwhelmingly disadvantageous position in job hunting activities, he says, "We were not in a situation where we could choose a company."

996 There are reasons why young employees in recent years have come to oppose work formats presented by employers despite being on duty for a long time. According to Lee, "Especially people born after the 1990s are reluctant to work overtime". The change in the awareness of people born after the 1990s is thought to be related to the change of the economic environment. The population of the middle class who reaches 9000 dollars (about 1 million yen) to 34 thousand dollars (about 3.7 million yen) in China is equivalent to just 4% of the population living in urban areas of China as of 2000 In 2012, it came to occupy about 70%.


Due to this large economic environment change, many people born after the 1990s can receive economic support from their families after adulthood. Naturally, although it is difficult to live in an urban area only with economic support from a family, they can secure a minimum amount of money, so those who think that working for a long time for a cheap salary is good Decrease. Lee was one of them and the company who first took a seat in Shanghai has retired on 20th, after joining the company, because he did not have private time other than going to bed at home.

Such cases are becoming common, and in more serious cases, young employees may appeal the company as 996 duty is illegal. However, in China, 996 work is in principle illegal in principle, but if there is a good reason for a company, it is also possible to obtain special permission to do 996 duties. For example, if it is a business like a pilot or a train conductor, it is possible to make a long shift more than the 8 hour shift regulated by Chinese law.

ByMatthias Damert

However, in the case of a company where Lee is working, you can not obtain permission even if you apply to the country. According to Mr. Jean Shaolin, a lawyer, "The salary system is one of the conditions to get special permission.In fact, more than 40% of companies interviewed by our law firms are working on overtime I did not even have a pay system. "

996 There is a historical background in the appearance of work. When a Chinese high-tech enterprise appeared in the early 2000s, many companies were recruiting employees who can work without holidays. For example,TencentIs also one of that company. Tencent drastically reduced personnel expenses by adopting a policy not to pay overtime fee, and has grown to become a company entering five fingers in the world with great profit. And other companies adopt the same policy as Tencent to succeed equally. Culture in which employees' long-term labor becomes normal takes root and the word "996" is born.

In recent years, in China, 996 work has been discussed and companies are thinking about what to do in order to grow, and they are about to change to companies that are easy for employees to spend.