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Young Chinese Are Sick of Working Long Hours (bbc.com)
Young professionals in China are pushing back against employers who expect them to work around the clock, saying no to the decades old "rule of 996" -- working from 9am to 9pm six days a week. From a report: At the forefront are millennials who are often better educated, more aware of their rights and more interested in finding something fulfilling than the previous generation. And as only children (China's one-child policy wasn't eased until 2015), they are also outspoken and pampered. "In my experience young people, especially the post-90s generation, are reluctant to work overtime -- they are more self-centered," says labour rights expert Li Jupeng, one of many who have observed some millennials challenging the 996 concept.
The relative affluence of their parents and grandparents is part of the reason. China's rapid economic transformation has given rise to a sizeable middle class, with almost 70% of the country's urban population making between $9,000 and $34,000 annually in 2012. In 2000, that figure was just 4%. As only children, millennials are receiving a lot of support from their families -- including a financial safety net should their careers not go as planned. Although their options for pushing back are limited, some are no longer willing to put in long hours for a meagre paycheck.
The relative affluence of their parents and grandparents is part of the reason. China's rapid economic transformation has given rise to a sizeable middle class, with almost 70% of the country's urban population making between $9,000 and $34,000 annually in 2012. In 2000, that figure was just 4%. As only children, millennials are receiving a lot of support from their families -- including a financial safety net should their careers not go as planned. Although their options for pushing back are limited, some are no longer willing to put in long hours for a meagre paycheck.
Amazing how each generation thinks the one that follows it are a bunch of losers for wanting something different than what their parents want.
Nobody likes being forced to work long hours. China's economy is getting to the point where a lot of Chinese finally have a choice in the matter. That's a good thing.
They need an union!
happy to just have a job.
That's what the last place I worked told me when I had 14 weeks of unpaid 24/7 on-call.
Hopefully, you will focus on doing your own start-ups, honest ones.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Wait until your boss makes you "dial it up to 11" and work 184.8 hours in a week before you complain about working too hard.
You know, there is no I in TEAM. There is also no $...
Ok, we might not be on 12 hours a day 6 days a week anymore but it still sucks unless you're lucky enough to bag a job you enjoy that doesn't just suck the fun out of it.
"I'm only working here because I need more fucking money"
Wanna buy a shirt?
https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
China can either become more like the West, or they can be overrun by their own citizens -- or, I suppose, go the al-Assad route and start slaughtering them wholesale for daring to want a different way of life. People don't want to live like this, no matter how much you try to indoctrinate them that it's 'normal' and 'right'.
Once you reach a certain income, you ask "why am I trading my life away for this?"
It's a good sign that the chinese economy is maturing. They still won't achieve wage parity for another 20 years at current rates and that will give them a competitive advantage until then.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
Spoken like a true millenial.
"...young people, especially the post-90s generation, are reluctant to work overtime -- they are more self-centered," says labour rights expert Li Jupeng
Not wanting to work overtime is considered self centered? China will thrive even more with young people that finally understand that life is much more than your job.
Are we sure they were not saying they didn't want to work wrong hours?
The rich don't risk starvation if a risk fails. In fact they can generally suffer several back-to-back failures and still afford that globe-trotting vacation they had been eyeing.
Risk diversification is risk reduction - and only the rich can afford it.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
Seriously - wtf is there to do for 12 hours per day 6 days a week? If they were digging in mines, ok, I could see that, though with the physical nature of it, they'd probably be better off getting more rest. Or is just fill-a-seat type "work"?
If you had bothered to read the article you would know that market forces are already solving the problem.
As long as there is someone willing to trade their life away cheaply the rest of the globe is stuck with those poor conditions. The most clever phrase I ever heard was "We are the 99%". At the end of the day, fairer economics will help people far more than any number of "social issues". You can't get to 99% unless you ditch social issues that fracture it like BLM. That's why social issues get pushed so hard by the media, to keep us from realizing that we've all been conned while we argued over bathrooms and bakers.
There is no I in TEAM but there is an M and an E
The rich can *literally afford* to take risks because they're entirely *financial risks*, not risks that affect necessities like food, housing, medical care, etc. That argument is and always has been garbage. A certain portion of finances directly translate to necessities. Everything over that give you more advantage to take risks because you have more opportunities to fail and inevitably more opportunities to succeed.
Once you have a certain amount of wealth tucked away to assure you'll eat and won't be miserable your entire life, the rest of your assets can become, essentially, monopoly money. You may win or may lose but you'll still have an enjoyable life. It could be a lot more enjoyable (yachts, supercars, etc.) or medicore (average luxury car, small boat, etc.).
Your average person can't do that or they may not have a home, they or their kids may go hungry, they may forgo necessary medical care, etc. Risk aversion is not a valid argument unless the playing field starts the same way.
8 hours work, 8 hours recreation, 8 hours rest. My grandfather bled for this so Mr. Project Manager can go fuck himself for his overtime. May they have a better time than we did with our labor-owner relations. The pinkertons, the homestead strike, the Colorado Labor Wars, company script, blacklists, strikebreakers, infiltrators, massacre. Least we forget.
These three hour workdays are killing me!
(Pedantic note: The Jetson's have represented George's work hours randomly, from 3 hours above (assumed this is 'overtime'), to 2 hours, 3x a week, to 1 hour, 2x a week)
The parents of "typical millennials" worked 40 hours a week.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
You mean having few children (one) means your parents can provide a safety net with more income and you can get out of poverty? Something must be wrong with that ...
If it wasnt for 996 the luxury of pushing back against in now wont exist. The Chinese are not starving and the global economy better today and we have nice toys thanks to the fact that they were cheaper than western manufacturing.
I am not saying they need 996 at the same time they have to respect that it was needed.
I assumed the /s was implied in my original post (that that boomers wouldn't try to convince millennials that they worked that long.)
You know, the "40 hour" week was formalized in the US by uneducated line workers many of whom could barely read. It doesn't take a half a life time of education debt to grasp the concept. These attitudes are emerging in China because the demand for workers is high enough that workers have leverage, not because they have degrees.
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
When I ran a development team, I soon learned you have to police people who develop the habit of spending long, non-productive hours at work. These people are not the high performers.
I'm not talking about flow sessions where someone spends twelve or even eighteen hours without realizing the time is passing -- that exploits a natural behavior of brains when they're fully engaged. I'm talking about people frittering away hours dancing around work without doing it. Keeping your ass in the chair longer is a way for a lazy person to convince himself he's a hard worker.
Nobody can give their best for seventy hours a week, week in and week out. It's a challenge getting peak effort out of people working forty hours a week. Routine long hours are often a sign of lack of management planning and vigilance.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
You should know better than that. Implied sarcasm will ALWAYS be misinterpreted online.
And these days, with wingnuts from all extremes climbing out of the woodwork and expecting to be taken seriously, that's more true than ever.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
Do you have a source on this? It's plausible, sure. But I do like having sources.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
Even that is misleading because they also existed at a time when the labor sector was transitioning from predominantly male to male+female. That means they basically got paid double on top of it.
The rich DO NOT take risks. They prefer safe investments with government backed subsidizes...
Welcome to life. Itâ(TM)s a tad more difficult than you may have been led to believe.
As long as theyâ(TM)re ok with diminished buying power due to working less hours, there wonâ(TM)t be any issues.
But we all know this likely wonâ(TM)t be the case. Thatâ(TM)s where the problems will start.
Wrong reply, ivanbot. Toggle and try again.
His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain