[China] Worker deaths reignite big tech work culture debate in China

[China] Worker deaths reignite big tech work culture debate in China
04 Feb 2021

A string of worker deaths and protests have reignited a national debate around the power of China’s biggest technology companies and the expectations they impose on their employees, at a time when internet giants around the world are under intense scrutiny, The New York Times reports.

Users have called for boycotts of one of China’s biggest online shopping platforms - Pinduoduo - following recent incidents involving employees of the company including a young man’s suicide and the death of a 22-year-old woman.

Both the government and ordinary citizens have begun turning on the companies they once held up as symbols of China’s growing superpower status. Chinese officials recently announced an antitrust investigation into Alibaba and regulators reportedly brought an abrupt stop to the initial public offering of Alibaba’s sister company, Ant Group. (Links via original reporting)

There are broader concerns that decades of apparently unlimited economic promise in China are coming to an end. Despite the country’s rapid recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak, many blue-collar workers are struggling. Young white-collar workers have grown increasingly vocal about their limited job prospects, the toll a hypercompetitive work culture takes their and dissatisfaction with long “996” working hours.

The New York Times more closely examines the events which led to the current discontent and the ramifications for Big Tech in China.

A string of worker deaths and protests have reignited a national debate around the power of China’s biggest technology companies and the expectations they impose on their employees, at a time when internet giants around the world are under intense scrutiny, The New York Times reports.

Users have called for boycotts of one of China’s biggest online shopping platforms - Pinduoduo - following recent incidents involving employees of the company including a young man’s suicide and the death of a 22-year-old woman.

Both the government and ordinary citizens have begun turning on the companies they once held up as symbols of China’s growing superpower status. Chinese officials recently announced an antitrust investigation into Alibaba and regulators reportedly brought an abrupt stop to the initial public offering of Alibaba’s sister company, Ant Group. (Links via original reporting)

There are broader concerns that decades of apparently unlimited economic promise in China are coming to an end. Despite the country’s rapid recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak, many blue-collar workers are struggling. Young white-collar workers have grown increasingly vocal about their limited job prospects, the toll a hypercompetitive work culture takes their and dissatisfaction with long “996” working hours.

The New York Times more closely examines the events which led to the current discontent and the ramifications for Big Tech in China.

Leave a Reply

All blog comments are checked prior to publishing