996: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., 6 days a week
Sure, they’re burnt out, sluggish, surly, but… they’re present. And when they’re present, they’re not out in the world spending their income. They don’t need an expensive apartment or house, all they do there is sleep. Why have a fancy car when all you do is drive to/from your shitty job in it? Family? Who would have children with somebody who works such a schedule?
Even if you got more productivity from the same workers on a 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., 4 days a week schedule, you’d have to pay them more, not just per hour but overall, because they’d be out spending money on those afternoons / evenings and 3 days a week they have off. Organizing, demanding better healthcare, dental, more paid time off for vacations, and higher total wages to support all these “needs” they invent for themselves on their time off.
Keep 'em locked down, keep 'em tasked with … anything, doesn’t matter if it’s productive or not, as long as it keeps them on-the-job and not spending their pay.
Edit: apparently this isn’t clear: 996 is a horrible idea from all perspectives, it’s bad for the workers and bad for their employers overall. But, in certain twisted views, it would be a bit like military service where the (bulk of the) workers get a pitifully small paycheck, but they don’t have any real expenses so they have the option to save it all. 996 would turn that more into a wage-slave implementation where the pitifully small paycheck is just enough to meet their pitifully small expenses. In the China tech sector where they have implemented this (it is now illegal, but still practiced) they also do things like install anti-suicide nets in the stairwells of the highrises the workers work and sleep in.
No, it’s about keeping worker locked down and denied them the time to rest or find another job. I work 51 hours a week and most people in my line of work tend to stay in line because they’re too tired physically and mentally to look for another job.
As we like to joke, all the money we earn we give it to doctor.
So living expenses are kept low, but at the high health cost? Is it really worth it?
at the high health cost? Is it really worth it?
Look at who’s promoting 996, I don’t think any of them take any responsibility for their workers’ health.
I’ve literally never heard of anyone doing this. I’ve heard of 9 9s, which is 9 hour days with every other Friday off, but that’s obviously the complete opposite of whatever this silly burnout schedule is.
It started in china, and douchebag valley tech bros are now breathlessly trying to make it a thing here so they can have their own little fiefdoms.
I hope it doesn’t spread outside of China, and I hope it ends (in practice) there soon.
“Although the Chinese Supreme People’s Court ruled 996 illegal in 2021, the practice remains a de facto standard in many private companies due to lax labor law enforcement.”
Laws in China is so funny.
You can “jaywalk”, drive across red lights, have food safety violations, tofu-dreg, and even just ignore One Child Policy (when it was a thing)
Its random and arbitrary enforced.
Which might be a good thing since VPNs traffic often just leaks through anyways, such an… interesting country
Its random and arbitrary enforced.
A direction the US is moving towards…
>Be me
>Be Born in China
>Family moves out of China
>Be in USA
>Fast Forward to January 20, 2025
>Looks around the country
>It’s PRC all over againOn the surface I agree - what’s being shown at top headlines, etc. But the PRC wasn’t as TACO as 2025 USA.
Where is this even legal?
It was practiced in the Chinese tech sector for a while, then made illegal by their courts - but it is still practiced in private firms there due to lax enforcement.
If you’re salaried there is effectively no limit on the hours you can be made to work (or else get fired). The job description just has to make clear that it would be impossible to get the workload done in a typical 40 hours. And even that is mostly optional.
Not in the EU. Working time is regulated, esp anything over 60 hours.
Could you please, explain what 996 better? I have no idea what you mean?
From 9 in the morning till 9 at night, 6 days a week. 996
WOW, that is a lot of Hrs. in a work day (72 - 1-hr. lunch & 2-15-mins. breaks = 70.5-hrs., by The USA federal require work breaks), week, month & year!!!
No, that sucks!!!
Why would anyone agree to that work schedule??? Time for a union & activist campaign!!!
if people are at work, not spending money at shops, restaurants, and other entertainment services how will the consumer driven society work?
Now you’re being rational, looking at the big picture. Anyone promoting 996 is, first, using it for shock value, and second, promoting a: me first, me always, me only. perspective on what’s desirable - for the company owners. Workers? Meh, they bought trickle down once, why not try that again? /s
Exports primary economy. I mean that falls apart if you remember the world economy is also people but myopic nationalist are happy with it
