Finance:996 working hour system

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Short description: Overtime work schedule in mainland China
996 working hour system
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Deaths due to long working hours per 100,000 people (15+), joint study conducted by World Health Organization and International Labour Organization in 2016.

The 996 working hour system (Chinese: 996工作制) is a work schedule practiced illegally by some companies in China. It derives its name from its requirement that workers clock in from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, 6 days per week, resulting in employees working 12 hours per day and 72 hours per week.[1][2][3][4][5][6] A number of Mainland Chinese internet and tech companies have adopted this system as their official or de facto work schedule. Critics argue that the 996 working hour system is a violation of the Labour Law of the People's Republic of China and have called it "modern slavery".[7][8]

In March 2019, an "anti-996" protest was launched via GitHub.[9][10][11] Since then, the 996 issue has been met with growing discontent in China.[12][13][14]

Background

The culture of overtime work has a long history in Chinese IT companies,[15] where the focus is typically on speed and cost reduction.[16] Companies employ a range of measures, such as reimbursing taxi fares for employees who remain working at the office late into the night, to incentivize overtime work.[17]

This system of working for long hours with few breaks has been known to increase the occurrence of mental and physical problems seen in workers. It is estimated that more than three-quarters of urban workers in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou suffer from work-related fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, sleep[18] or eating disorders, occupational stress, and work–family imbalance.[19] According to China's state-owned People's Daily, a 2013 survey showed that 98.8% of Chinese IT industry workers reported health problems.[20][21] Numerous overwork deaths and suicides have occurred during past decades due to the 996 system and other overtime work systems in China.[22][23]

In 2020, a study published in IEEE Software done by Chinese researchers found that "Chinese businesses are more likely to follow long work hours than American ones".[24] Another study likened 996 culture to "modern slavery", formed through the combination of "unrestricted global capitalism and a Confucian culture of hierarchy and obedience".[7]

Companies involved

58.com

In September 2016, the classified advertising website 58.com (zh) officially declared its adoption of the 996 working hour system,[25] attracting criticism from employees and social commentators. The company responded that the 996 system would be encouraged, not a compulsory practice.[26][27]

ByteDance

A CNBC article in May 2021 reported that workers at TikTok's parent company ByteDance were unhappy with the 996 work culture there and that people were turning down job opportunities at TikTok because of it.[28] In November 2021, ByteDance moved away from 996 and mandated shorter working hours.[29] Nevertheless, on 23 February 2022, the sudden death was reported of a 28-year-old employee at ByteDance, after he posted a message on Maimai (website) (zh), a career and social networking platform, the night before. ByteDance later issued a statement that was shared in an internal letter with its staff in China, according to which the employee felt dizzy after an hour of exercise at the company gym, before he was taken to the hospital. The incident raised scrutiny of the frequent overtime demands of Chinese tech companies.[30]

JD.com

After 58.com's 996 schedule was made known to the public, an internal email from the vice-president Gang He (Chinese: 何剛) of JD.com was leaked online, which contained a demand for the management team of JD.com to implement the 996 working hour system "on a flexible basis".[31]

On 15 March 2019, an employee of JD.com alleged that some departments have begun implementing the 995 schedule, while other departments have already finished doing so. Following the report, the public relations department of JD.com announced that overtime work was not compulsory.[32]

Richard Liu, the founder of the company, said that the reason for his company's layoffs is because there were too many "slackers" and they were not his "brothers".[33] He said JD did not force its staff to work the "996" or even a "995" overtime schedule, "But every person must have the desire to push oneself to the limit!".

Pinduoduo

In early January 2021, the e-commerce platform Pinduoduo was accused of forcing its employees to do extremely intensive overtimes, which supposedly led to the karoshi death of a 22-year-old worker.[34][35] Later, the official account of Pinduoduo posted (but deleted shortly afterwards) an answer on Zhihu, saying "Those who are at the bottom of the society earn their wages at the risk of losing their lives".[36]

Just a few days after the early January accident, another employee committed suicide by jumping.[37][38] On 10 January, news sources reported that Pinduoduo fired an employee who posted photos showing his colleague being carried into an ambulance.[39][40]

Youzan

In January 2019, an employee of Youzan stated on the social platform Maimai that their supervisor had enforced the 996 schedule.[41] Bai Ya, the CEO of Youzan, replied, "it would be a good thing to look back at a few years later".[17] Some media outlets criticized this schedule.[42] Later that month, the Labour Supervision Group of Xihu District, Hangzhou announced that the company was under investigation.[43]

Others

At least 40 companies, including Huawei and Alibaba Group, have implemented the 996 schedule or an even more intensive alternative.[44][45]

According to two separate reports from the Wired magazine and Marketplace podcast in 2025, a growing number of U.S. AI startups are also implementing the 996 schedule.[46][47]

Online protests

996.ICU GitHub campaign

Logo of Anti-996 GitHub project

On 26 March 2019, the 996.ICU repository and website were created. The repository on GitHub states that the name "996.icu" refers to how developers who work under the 996 system would risk poor health and a possible stay in an intensive care unit. The movement's slogan is "developers' lives matter".[48][49][50][51][52][53][54]

Two days later, on 28 March 2019, the repository had already received 50 thousand stars, and 100 thousand stars on 30 March 2019, which made it the top trending repository on GitHub.[55] The repository reached 120 thousand stars on 31 March 2019, and 200 thousand stars on 9 April 2019, making it the second most starred repository on GitHub. The flurry of activity led to the "issue" page of the repository to be flooded with spam and shut down, which was hotly discussed on Zhihu, Sina Weibo, and WeChat.[1][56]

The original aim of the repository was to list the companies that use the 996 working hour system, but it soon developed into a movement; the Anti 996 Licence (zh) was created to explicitly prohibit companies using the 996 system from using open source[lower-alpha 1] code licensed under it.[57][58]

On 2 April 2019, it was widely reported that Tencent's QQ browser, WeChat, Alibaba's UC Browser, Qihoo 360's 360 Browser, and many other browsers developed by companies in mainland China blocked the 996.icu repository on GitHub, describing it as "an illegal and fraudulent site".[59][27]

On 18 April 2019, employees at Microsoft and GitHub created a GitHub repository named "support.996.ICU" in support of the 996.ICU campaign, which they believe could be under threat of Chinese government censorship.[60][61][62][63][64][65]

Reactions

Support

Jack Ma stated that workers should consider 996 "a huge blessing" as there is no way to "achieve the success [one] want[s] without paying extra effort and time",[66][67][68][69][70][27][71][excessive citations] while Richard Liu, founder of JD.com, said that "Slackers are not my brothers!"[27][33] Jason Calacanis, an entrepreneur and angel investor, describes 996 as "the same exact work ethic that built America".[72]

Criticism

Several Chinese media outlets criticized the 996 working system. Xin Shi Ping of the Xinhua News Agency said that the system "violates labor law and overtakes health and the future. It does harm to hard-working workers and is a misunderstanding of the hard-working spirit".[73] The People's Daily wrote that "advocating 'hard work' does not mean resorting to and enforcing the 996 system",[74][75][76] while an editorial in the China News Service said that it is "unnecessary to exchange life for money".[77]

Beijing Daily criticized Jack Ma and Richard Liu for "boasting" the 996 work schedule, claiming that it is "aimed at disguising reduction of salary or lay-off",[78] while Wang Xinya, a writer for Banyuetan (zh), stated that some entrepreneurs disregarded the law and associate 996 with hard work, calling it "poisonous chicken soup" (Chinese: 毒鸡汤). Wang also stated that the system has nothing to do with employee diligence, but has everything to do with company interests.[79]

Python creator Guido van Rossum described the 996 work schedule as "inhumane" in a tweet commenting on an SCMP article about 996.[80][57][81][82] In 2021, Chinese scholars stressed on policy-makers that "there is a need to reform work policies to realize the lowering of working time per worker in China (and also to curb excessive-work cultures like 996)".[83] Without such initiatives, the dual circulation policy is doomed to fail, they argued.

Some European entrepreneurs argued that 996 is contrary to European values, that it leads to a brain drain, and that the bigger problem for startups is financing.[84]

The 996 working hour system was deemed illegal by the Supreme People's Court on 27 August 2021.[85] However, some scholars cast doubt whether this ruling will be enforced.[86][87]

007 work schedule

The 007 work schedule is a midnight to midnight, seven days a week schedule using a rotational workforce which may be practiced illegally by some companies in China, especially in the high-tech sector. The term 007 could mean several things depending on the source. It may mean the employee is expected to live in the office 24/7 to finish their work, or it could be used to refer to a work-from-home position that requires 24/7 availability, especially during the times of COVID-19. Sometimes it is used sarcastically by workers as the "true" schedule required by employers.[46][47][88][89][90][91][92]

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. ↑ Such a license would not meet most definitions of open source software, such as the Open Source Definition, as the 996 exclusion counts as a limitation on purpose of use.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Xue Yujie (2019-03-28). "Chinese Developers Protest Overwork on GitHub". in David Paulk (in en). https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1003771/chinese-developers-protest-overwork-on-github. 
  2. ↑ Denise Hruby (2018-05-08). "Young Chinese are sick of working long hours" (in en). http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20180508-young-chinese-are-sick-of-working-overtime. 
  3. ↑ Zhao, Ang (2018-06-03). "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). Workers' Daily. http://www.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2018-06/03/c_1122929624.htm. 
  4. ↑ Sarah Dai; Li Tao (2019-01-29). "China's work ethic stretches beyond '996' as tech companies feel the impact of slowdown" (in en). https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/2183950/chinas-work-ethic-stretches-beyond-996-tech-companies-feel-impact. 
  5. ↑ Li Yuan (2017-02-22). "China's Grueling Formula for Success: 9-9-6" (in en). https://www.wsj.com/articles/long-days-a-staple-at-chinese-tech-firms-1487787775. 
  6. ↑ Zheping Huang (2019-03-20). "No sleep, no sex, no life: tech workers in China's Silicon Valley face burnout before they reach 30" (in en). https://www.scmp.com/tech/apps-social/article/3002533/no-sleep-no-sex-no-life-tech-workers-chinas-silicon-valley-face. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Wang, Jenny Jing (2020). "How managers use culture and controls to impose a '996' work regime in China that constitutes modern slavery" (in en). Accounting & Finance 60 (4): 4331–4359. doi:10.1111/acfi.12682. ISSN 1467-629X. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/acfi.12682. 
  8. ↑ Lu, Ying-Ying (2019-04-13). "Ep. 42: To 996, or Not to 996, That Is the Question" (in en). https://pandaily.com/ep-42-to-996-or-not-to-996-that-is-the-question/. 
  9. ↑ Yuan Yang (2019-04-03). "China tech worker protest against long working hours goes viral" (in en). https://www.ft.com/content/72754638-55d1-11e9-91f9-b6515a54c5b1. 
  10. ↑ Bill Ide (2019-04-04). "China Tech Workers Protest Long Work Hours in Online Campaign" (in en). https://www.voanews.com/a/china-tech-workers-protest-long-work-hours-in-online-campaign/4861553.html. 
  11. ↑ "'996' Is China's Version of Hustle Culture. Tech Workers Are Sick of It." (in en). 2019-04-29. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/29/technology/china-996-jack-ma.html. 
  12. ↑ Hamer, Lars (5 December 2022). "China's Gen-Z Is Entering the Workforce. Employers Are Terrified." (in en). Sixth Tone. https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1011815/chinas-gen-z-is-entering-the-workforce.-employers-are-terrified.. 
  13. ↑ Yang, Stephanie (30 January 2023). "Burned out by COVID, Chinese professionals take up nomadic life: 'I wasted so much time'". Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-01-30/china-economic-slowdown-population-decline-burned-out-covid-young-nomads. 
  14. ↑ Yip, Waiyee (1 September 2021). "China steps in to regulate brutal '996' work culture". BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-58381538. 
  15. ↑ Wang, Pinzhi (2018-03-30). "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). China Youth Daily. http://www.xinhuanet.com/yuqing/2018-03/30/c_129840094.htm. 
  16. ↑ Justin Bergman (2016-08-26). "Inside the high-pressure world of China's start-up workers" (in en). http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20160825-inside-the-high-pressure-world-of-chinas-overtime-dogs. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Liu, Jia, ed (2019-01-31). "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). https://www.yicai.com/news/100111346.html. 
  18. ↑ Liang, Lu-Hai (21 January 2021). "The psychology behind 'revenge bedtime procrastination'". BBC. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20201123-the-psychology-behind-revenge-bedtime-procrastination. 
  19. ↑ Tsui, Audrey H. H. (27 June 2008). "Asian wellness in decline: a cost of rising prosperity". International Journal of Workplace Health Management 1 (2): 123–135. doi:10.1108/17538350810893919. ISSN 1753-8351. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/17538350810893919/full/html. Retrieved 29 May 2022. 
  20. ↑ Monet, Charmika (26 March 2014). "Working to Death in China". The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2014/03/working-to-death-in-china/. 
  21. ↑ People's Daily. Xinhua News Agency. 6 March 2014. http://world.people.com.cn/n/2014/0306/c157278-24548778.html. 
  22. ↑ "Death from Overwork in China" (in en). 11 August 2006. https://clb.org.hk/content/death-overwork-china. 
  23. ↑ Tan, J. S. (2022). "Tech Workers Lie Flat". Dissent. https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/tech-workers-lie-flat. 
  24. ↑ Zhang, Jiayun; Chen, Yang; Gong, Qingyuan; Wang, Xin; Ding, Aaron Yi; Xiao, Yu; Hui, Pan (March 2021). "Understanding the Working Time of Developers in IT Companies in China and the United States". IEEE Software 38 (2): 96–106. doi:10.1109/MS.2020.2988022. ISSN 0740-7459. Bibcode: 2021ISoft..38b..96Z. 
  25. ↑ "Leak from 58.com: Chinese tech companies' overtime culture" (in en). 2016-09-05. https://e27.co/leak-58-com-chinese-tech-companies-overtime-culture-20160905/. 
  26. ↑ Zhao, Lei; Wang, Yu (2016-09-03). "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). The Beijing News. http://news.ifeng.com/a/20160903/49890940_0.shtml. 
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 "Office workers in China organise a rare online labour movement". The Economist. 2019-04-17. https://www.economist.com/china/2019/04/20/office-workers-in-china-organise-a-rare-online-labour-movement. 
  28. ↑ Shead, Sam (2021-05-06). "Why some tech workers are turning down jobs at TikTok". https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/06/tiktoks-toxic-culture-reviews-on-glassdoor-impact-hiring.html. 
  29. ↑ Huang, Zheping (2021-10-31). "TikTok Owner ByteDance Mandates Shorter Working Hours". Bloomberg News. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-01/tiktok-owner-limits-workday-to-nine-hours-in-blow-to-996-culture. 
  30. ↑ "Death of 28-year-old ByteDance employee fuels ongoing controversy on overwork in Chinese tech companies". KrASIA. 2022-02-23. https://kr-asia.com/death-of-28-year-old-bytedance-employee-fuels-ongoing-controversy-on-overwork-in-chinese-tech-companies. 
  31. ↑ Song, Tao (2016-09-02). "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). https://news.qudong.com/article/358861.shtml. 
  32. ↑ Xu, Qian'ang (2019-03-12). "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). https://www.guancha.cn/economy/2019_03_12_493302.shtml. 
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 "China's JD.com boss criticizes 'slackers' as company makes cuts" (in en). 2019-04-13. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-jd-com-labour-idUSKCN1RP06D. 
  34. ↑ Yujie Xue (2021-01-04). "Death of 22-year-old Pinduoduo employee renews controversy over China's 996 overwork culture, sparking an investigation". https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3116385/death-22-year-old-pinduoduo-employee-renews-controversy-over-chinas. 
  35. ↑ "Death of Chinese tech worker fuels anger over brutal hours". The Washington Post. 2021-01-05. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-tech-death-pinduoduo/2021/01/05/c68bdd76-4eff-11eb-a1f5-fdaf28cfca90_story.html. 
  36. ↑ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). 4 January 2021. https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/2021-01-04/doc-iiznezxt0543159.shtml. 
  37. ↑ "2 employee deaths and a viral video renew debate of China's '996' overwork culture". 2021-01-11. https://fortune.com/2021/01/11/pinduoduo-employee-death-suicide-china-996/. 
  38. ↑ "New employee death at Chinese tech giant Pinduoduo prompts calls for boycott". The Washington Post. 2021-01-11. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/pinduoduo-employee-suicide-china/2021/01/11/7e56dd14-53c1-11eb-acc5-92d2819a1ccb_story.html. 
  39. ↑ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). https://www.zhihu.com/question/438581129/answer/1670519587. 
  40. ↑ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). https://finance.sina.com.cn/zt_d/pddyg/. 
  41. ↑ 三言财经 (2019-01-28). "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). https://36kr.com/p/5174571. 
  42. ↑ 张瑜 (2019-01-29). "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". in 尹淑琼 (in zh-hans). http://www.njdaily.cn/2019/0129/1750899.shtml. 
  43. ↑ 尹莉娜 (2019-01-31). "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). http://www.sohu.com/a/292405890_115565. 
  44. ↑ Wen, Jing (2019-04-05). "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). Beijing Youth Daily. http://news.cctv.com/2019/04/05/ARTIofU2qyA67PWOlgfMBbgR190405.shtml. 
  45. ↑ Lin, Qiqing; Zhong, Raymond (2019-04-29). "'996' Is China's Version of Hustle Culture. Tech Workers Are Sick of It." (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/29/technology/china-996-jack-ma.html. 
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Knibbs, Kate (2025-07-23). "Silicon Valley AI Startups Are Embracing China's Controversial '996' Work Schedule". Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/silicon-valley-china-996-work-schedule/. 
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Pak, Jennifer (2025-08-14). "Work weeks are getting more intense for AI startups". Marketplace (Podcast). Minnesota Public Radio.
  48. ↑ "996.ICU/README.md". 2019-03-30. https://github.com/996icu/996.ICU/blob/5a9758795661b0f38ea4b8f2cb0f015bff91d884/README.md. 
  49. ↑ Yingzhi Yang (2019-03-29). "'Developers' lives matter' – Chinese software engineers use Github to protest against the country's 996 work schedule" (in en). https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/3003691/developers-lives-matter-chinese-software-engineers-use-github. 
  50. ↑ "China's tech workers protest brutal work culture with communist jingles" (in en). 2019-03-29. https://www.inkstonenews.com/tech/china-tech-workers-protest-996-working-schedule-github/article/3003800. 
  51. ↑ 局长 (Pseudonym) (2019-03-29). "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). https://www.oschina.net/news/105515/developers-lives-matter. 
  52. ↑ Xinmei Shen (2019-03-28). "Follow China's '996' work hours and you'll end up in an ICU, says Chinese developer" (in en). https://www.abacusnews.com/digital-life/follow-chinas-996-work-hours-and-youll-end-icu-says-chinese-developer/article/3003702. 
  53. ↑ "GitHub Protest Over Chinese Tech Companies' '996' Culture Goes Viral" (in en). 2019-03-28. https://radiichina.com/github-protest-chinese-tech-996/. 
  54. ↑ Liao, Shannon (2019-04-02). "Chinese developers use GitHub to protest long work hours" (in en). https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/2/18291035/chinese-developers-github-protest-long-work-hours. 
  55. ↑ 橙皮书 (2019-03-28). "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). https://36kr.com/p/5189654. 
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  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). 2019-04-04. https://www.qdaily.com/articles/62652.html. 
  58. ↑ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). 蓝点网. 2019-03-29. https://www.cnbeta.com/articles/tech/832449.htm. 
  59. ↑ Xinmei Shen (2019-04-03). "Chinese browsers block protest against China's 996 overtime work culture" (in en). https://www.abacusnews.com/digital-life/chinese-browsers-block-protest-against-chinas-996-overtime-work-culture/article/3004543. 
  60. ↑ Shannon Liao (2019-04-22). "Microsoft workers pressure company to stand by embattled Chinese GitHub repo" (in en). https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/22/18511088/microsoft-github-tech-censorship-996-repository-china. 
  61. ↑ David Reid (2019-04-23). "Microsoft employees add support to Chinese tech workers protesting 'grueling' overtime culture" (in en). https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/23/microsoft-google-and-facebook-staff-protest-against-grueling-work-culture-of-chinese-tech-engineers.html. 
  62. ↑ "Microsoft workers join China's debate over grueling workweek" (in en). Associated Press. 2019-04-22. https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/microsoft-workers-join-chinas-debate-grueling-workweek-62557182. 
  63. ↑ Rosalie Chan (2019-04-23). "A group of Microsoft and GitHub employees have come out in support of Chinese tech workers protesting the infamous '996' work hours" (in en). https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-github-employees-stand-up-censorship-china-996-work-schedule-2019-4. 
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  65. ↑ Caroline O'Donovan (2019-04-22). "A Post About China's '996' Workweek Went Viral On GitHub. Now Microsoft Employees Want To Protect It From Censorship." (in en). https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/microsoft-petition-996-icu-workweek-china. 
  66. ↑ "Jack Ma endorses China's controversial 12 hours a day, 6 days a week work culture" (in en). 2019-04-16. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/15/business/jack-ma-996-china/index.html. 
  67. ↑ "Jack Ma defends the 'blessing' of a 12-hour working day" (in en). 2019-04-15. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47934513. 
  68. ↑ Lulu Yilun Chen; Bloomberg (2019-04-15). "Alibaba's Jack Ma Again Endorses China's '996' Overtime Culture as Testament to Professional Passion" (in en). http://fortune.com/2019/04/15/jack-ma-996-culture/. 
  69. ↑ Nicole Lyn Pesce (2019-04-15). "Alibaba's Jack Ma calls the '996' – China's 72-hour workweek – a 'huge blessing'" (in en). https://www.marketwatch.com/story/alibabas-jack-ma-calls-the-996-chinas-72-hour-work-week-a-huge-blessing-2019-04-15. 
  70. ↑ Lily Kuo (2019-04-15). "Working 9 to 9: Chinese tech workers push back against long hours" (in en). https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/15/china-tech-employees-push-back-against-long-hours-996-alibaba-huawei. 
  71. ↑ Bryce Covert (2019-04-21). "The Richest Man in China Is Wrong. 12-Hour Days Are No 'Blessing'." (in en). https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/21/opinion/jack-ma-996.html. 
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  76. ↑ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". 中国财经报. 2019-04-14. http://www.sohu.com/a/307927700_481640. 
  77. ↑ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). 中国新闻网. 2019-04-16. http://sc.people.com.cn/n2/2019/0416/c345459-32846731.html. 
  78. ↑ 董禹含 (2019-04-15). "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh-hans). Beijing Daily. http://bj.people.com.cn/n2/2019/0415/c82840-32841638.html. 
  79. ↑ 王新亚 (2019-04-15). "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". in 孔德明 (in zh-hans). http://www.banyuetan.org/dyp/detail/20190415/1000200033134991555306789054254821_1.html. 
  80. ↑ Qu, Tracy (9 April 2019). "How GitHub became a bulletin board for Chinese tech worker complaints" (in en). Quartz. https://qz.com/1589309/996-icu-github-hosts-chinese-tech-worker-complaints/. 
  81. ↑ "Alibaba's Founder Jack Ma Says 996 Work Schedule Is a Blessing for Employees" (in en). 2019-04-12. https://en.pingwest.com/w/1238. 
  82. ↑ Rita Liao (2019-04-12). "China's startup ecosystem is hitting back at demanding working hours" (in en). https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/12/china-996/. 
  83. ↑ Javed, Saad Ahmed; Bo, Yu; Tao, Liangyan; Dong, Wenjie (2021-06-07). "The 'Dual Circulation' development model of China: Background and insights" (in en). Rajagiri Management Journal 17: 2–20. doi:10.1108/RAMJ-03-2021-0016. ISSN 0972-9968. 
  84. ↑ Bhaimiya, Sawdah (8 June 2025). "China's grueling '996' work culture is being debated by European startups — 7 founders and VCs on why they are resisting" (in en). CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/08/europe-startups-resists-pressure-to-adopt-chinas-996-work-culture.html. 
  85. ↑ "China Spells Out How Excessive 996 Work Culture is Illegal" (in en). Bloomberg. 27 August 2021. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-27/china-s-top-court-says-excessive-996-work-culture-is-illegal. 
  86. ↑ Meng, Siyuan (15 November 2021). "China's burned-out tech workers are fighting back against long hours". MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/11/15/1039650/china-tech-workers-996-fight-back/. "But even though authorities and state media seem to be taking a tougher stand, it is unclear when or if the rules that make 996 illegal will be fully enforced." 
  87. ↑ Liu, Hong Yu (24 January 2022). "The role of the state in influencing work conditions in China's internet industry: Policy, evidence, and implications for industrial relations". Journal of Industrial Relations 65: 12. doi:10.1177/00221856211068488. ISSN 0022-1856. "The contradictory rulings by the district courts in these cases, one for the employee and two against, suggest that the legislative framework in China is not in a position that can stand firmly to defend workers against the inhumane and unlawful working hours. Wang and Cooke (2021) found a similar level of arbitrariness in court rulings in labour disputes between Chinese platforms and their workers.". 
  88. ↑ "From 996 to 007: Challenges of Working from Home During the Epidemic in China". https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358144826. Retrieved 2025-09-01. 
  89. ↑ "Are Gen Z disrupting Chinese work culture?". 16 August 2023. https://daxueconsulting.com/chinese-work-culture/. 
  90. ↑ "China's youth are rebelling against long hours". The Economist. https://www.economist.com/business/2024/05/16/chinas-youth-are-rebelling-against-long-hours. 
  91. ↑ "This is 996 culture, a grueling 72-hour work week popular in China that's been criticized for ruining work-life balance". https://www.businessinsider.com/996-work-culture-schedule-popular-in-china-explained-2021-7. 
  92. ↑ "From 996 to 007: Challenges of Working from Home During the Epidemic in Chin". 2022. https://europepmc.org/article/PPR/PPR454223. 

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