The sudden death of a 22-year-old female employee of e-commerce giant Pinduoduo has revived online furor about labor rights in the tech industry, and has prompted a government probe into the e-commerce giant. The employee reportedly collapsed suddenly while walking home from work at 1:30 a.m. with colleagues on December 29, and died hours later in the hospital. The news went viral online, where many suspected the death was caused by the “996” culture of overwork dominant in China’s tech industry<\/strong><\/a>, where employees are expected to work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week. At The South China Morning Post, Yujie Xue reports:<\/p>\n
\nThe story of Zhang\u2019s death initially went viral on Monday after a person posted to Weibo saying her friend died at Pinduoduo. \u201cShe is only 23,\u201d the post said, noting the age Zhang would have turned this year. \u201cWhy is no one willing to stand out and say something?\u201d<\/p>\n
While there is no evidence linking Zhang\u2019s death to her long working hours, many netizens were quick to connect it to 996 culture. The concept has long been known among those who work in China\u2019s fast-growing tech industries as a common but unofficial work schedule.<\/p>\n
According to China\u2019s Labour Law, employees are allowed to extend work hours by up to three hours for special reasons, but staff should not work more than 36 extra hours in a month. [Source<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
In 2019, Chinese tech workers launched a viral Github campaign<\/a> in protest of the grueling 996 work culture, which found support from tech workers in the U.S.<\/a> but was blocked by web browsers from some Chinese tech companies<\/a>. Also in 2019, Alibaba founder and then-richest man in Asia Jack Ma won himself massive criticism after posting online that it was a “huge blessing we can work 996.” Netizens poked fun at Ma with parody music videos, which were then quickly ordered offline by state censors<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Bloomberg’s Coco Liu reports that this time, Chinese state media has joined in the wave of public anger at the grueling labor norm, noting an imminent government investigation<\/strong><\/a> into Pinduoduo.<\/p>\n
The state-run CCTV on Tuesday published a\u00a0commentary<\/a>\u00a0that warned against trading human life for profit. Without naming specific corporations, CCTV called for authorities to step up regulatory oversight to protect the rights of workers.<\/p>\n
In response to the uproar, the Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau will dispatch an investigative team to Pinduoduo and collect relevant information from the company, a Changning District branch official who only wanted to be known as Wang told Bloomberg News by phone. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This comes as the Xi administration has been cracking down on the private sector entrepreneurs\u2014and tech firms in particular<\/a>\u2014with regulations indicating Beijing’s eroding trust in the market<\/a> amid its efforts to counter U.S. trade policies. At Nikkei Asia, Nikki Sun reports on Pinduoduo’s relative success at market share dominance and expansion\u2014fueled by the labor practices at the center of this controversy<\/strong><\/a>\u2014during a difficult economic year:<\/p>\n
The group-buying service<\/a>, in which neighbors purchase groceries and fresh produce in bulk at discounted prices, became popular during the coronavirus pandemic and is now one of the hottest battleground areas in e-commerce. In addition to Pinduoduo, Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings, Meituan, JD.com and ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing have all rolled out the service or invested in startups in the segment.<\/p>\n
The cutthroat competition, however, has added to the pressure on current employees, who in many cases must work long hours to fulfill their job responsibilities. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
A Chinese article from Chinese new media website Baobian includes a brief profile of the deceased young worker, and a glimpse into the culture at the firm. The article, which highlights a demanding and malfeasant corporate culture, remains online. An excerpt is translated below<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n
This means that unless the employees can provide a string of evidence in litigation, even if they are being asked to take only one day off every two weeks they cannot prove that the company required them to work against their will. […] [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Additionally, CDT Chinese editors have collected a sample of netizen comments from the ongoing wave of outrage<\/strong><\/a>, posted on various social media platforms. Several translated below relay verification and condemnation of the widespread corporate practice, while others remind readers to reserve some blame for the system has allowed these abusive practices to continue and worsen:<\/p>\n
@\u5415\u67d0\u67d0V\u8f6c: It\u2019s true that the companies are not to be blamed here. It\u2019s that the you-know-which-Party is afraid of labor unions. Chaos will be unleashed if they lift up the restrictions, which would lead to democracy. [Chinese<\/a><\/strong>]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"