China’s fastest-growing ecommerce group Pinduoduo is facing a growing public relations crisis and an investigation into its working conditions after one of its employees died after collapsing on her way home from work.
The employee’s death, which occurred in the early hours of December 29, has revived concerns over the brutal work culture at some Chinese tech companies. The long hours often expected of employees are known as “996” — meaning they start work at 9am, leave at 9pm and work six days a week.
The sector’s exhausting working weeks have come under fire in the past, with an “anti-996” campaign gaining steam in 2019 among tech workers and activists. But the effort largely failed to change workplace norms.