The sudden death of a young employee at a Chinese internet giant has reignited a debate about the gruelling overtime culture in China’s tech industry.
Newsroom (11/02/2022 11:50, Gaudium Press) The 25-year-old died of a brain hemorrhage after working as a content moderator for the Bilibili video portal, a kind of China’s YouTube. The death happened during the Lunar New Year holiday, the main festival for Chinese families.
Bilibili confirmed the employee’s death in a statement on Tuesday and apologized to his family.
“The death of this excellent worker is not only a huge loss for the company, but also served as a wake-up call for us,” Bilibili wrote, identifying the man only by his online username.
“We must make active improvements in checking the physical health of employees to prevent similar tragedies from happening again,” the statement added.
The incident comes after several sudden deaths have been recorded among young workers at different technology groups in the country in recent years, sparking a debate about the culture of “996” – working six days a week from 9 am to 9 pm, or twelve hours a day.
Unidentified co-workers said the young man was forced to work overtime.
According to Bilibili, the employee died last Friday night of a brain hemorrhage after seeking treatment and failing to report to work that afternoon.
In recent years, communist China has been under growing scrutiny due to its work policies. Allegations of “slave” labour are becoming more and more frequent. According to Human Rights Watch reports, “Governments, civil society groups, and United Nations officials expressed growing concern over the Chinese government’s human rights violations in 2020.
Compiled by Gustavo Kralj
