If you have just got accepted for a job in China, then you might surely want to know what 996 is? Cause, after all, you must be aware of their various work cultures, shouldn't you?

Well, my dear friend, 996 is the overtime culture in China. It is just like any other normal job except that you have to work way longer hours for lesser pay. But you'll be rewarded eventually, after working hard for three years in the company. 

The 996 is a term that's used in the IT industry in China. Employees had to work from 9 am to 9 pm for 6 days a week and only had one day off every two weeks. Some people call this 996. However, it's said that the term originated from IT companies in Silicon Valley that have more than 80 hours of working per week. So, it's not the shift from 9 to 5 but more like 9 am to 11 pm. 

The 996 work culture in China is very popular. It's what makes the Chinese economy grow at a rapid pace. However, as of the August 2021 update, this culture was deemed illegal in China and hence was banned. Let's have a look at further details of it.

Reasons for High salary But Long Working Time

The first reason Chinese companies ask their employees to stay more hours at work is to offset the high labor cost with higher efficiency. In China, some senior hardware or software engineers charge as much as 100k USD / year on average, excluding those top talents which charge even more than 200k USD / year!

The cost of retaining such employees is as high as that. That's why many Chinese companies like to keep their teams working over 10 hours a day and six days a week so they can finish more projects with efficient results.

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The second reason is that China has lots of manufacturing factories, so those companies who want to enter the market early and present themselves swiftly need to rush or else there will be lots of competitors present in front of you once you do the market research later on. 

As we all know, this strategy can only last for two years before it becomes less effective due to fierce competition. If the company wants to keep its competitive advantages over others, it'll have no choice but to increase efficiency by arranging flow and improving team members' overall abilities.

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996 China Work Culture and Lack of Labor Unions

China lacks labor unions. It's a country famous for its low cost but high-efficiency workforce, so companies don't need to worry about their employees going on strike or protesting as opposed to other countries that may have higher salary expectations because they work fewer hours.

Many US-based businesses try to utilize China's cheap labor force as much as possible since the demand is growing daily in Western Countries due to increasing standard of living, which leads to inflated salary demands from employees.

This phenomenon also explains why some foreigners who earn a decent amount of money in China complain about their local colleagues being overworked and underpaid even though the latter earn a much better salary than those who work in their home countries.

996 China Work Culture and the Law

In August 2021, China finally issued a labor law which states that: No employer shall arrange to work its employees for more than 4 hours daily and 36 working hours weekly (except those necessary to safeguard national interests); With an agreement from all staff members, employers may arrange for them to work 12 consecutive working days once during one month; If an employee has worked consecutively for 48 working days, he should be given rest of not less than 24 consecutive hours as well as two days off in succession before continuing the rest of 24 working days. Employers who breach relevant regulations will face fines up to 50,000 yuan.

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In addition, labor unions have been legalized in China. They're free to join and negotiate with the employers on salary issues. So 996 china's work culture turns into 998, then? As far as we know, there's no definite answer yet. 

Bottom Line

So do you think that this law has enough power to change how businesses work now? I don't think so. Though the minimum wage is increasing every year in China, not every company will follow these regulations due to its high cost or low demand of employees, which can balance the revenue and expenditure loss. Hence, it's not worth having these regulations implemented.

Only the pioneering companies who want to set a good example for other players may take advantage of this regulation since they are more capable and successful.