China’s youth are rebelling against long hours
中国年轻人抵制长时间工作
It is a time-honoured tradition for bosses to grumble about the supposed laziness of their underlings.
老板抱怨自己下属懒散是一个由来已久的传统。
Doing so publicly, however, is rarely wise. China offers no exception to this rule.
然而，公开发表这样的言论却未必明智，在中国也不例外。
Earlier this month Qu Jing, the head of communications at Baidu, a local tech giant, took to social media to defend the company’s gruelling culture.
本月早些时候，中国科技巨头百度的公关副总裁璩静在社交媒体上为该公司严苛的工作文化辩护。
The resulting firestorm has highlighted the growing dissatisfaction among China’s young white-collar workers with the punishing hours common in the country.
由此引发的轩然大波突显出，中国年轻白领对国内普遍存在的加班工作的现象越来越不满。
In one video, which soon went viral, Ms Qu said it was not her responsibility whether her team’s relationships or health were affected by their jobs, declaring “I’m not their mother.”
在一段迅速走红的视频里，璩静说，她员工的人际关系或健康是否受到工作的影响跟她没有关系，并宣称“我又不是他们的妈妈”。
In another she added that a woman who opts to spend time with “her husband and kids” should not expect a promotion or raise.
在另一段视频里，她补充说，选择花时间陪“老公孩子”的女性不应该指望升职或加薪。
She claimed that she did not regret forgetting her elder son’s birthday nor which grade her younger son was in at school because she “chose to be a career woman”. ***
她声称，她不后悔忘记大儿子的生日，也不后悔忘记小儿子在学校上几年级，因为她“选择了成为一名职业女性”。
“Keep your phone on 24 hours a day, always ready to respond,” was her advice to those lucky enough to find themselves in her line of work.
“手机24小时开机，随传随到，”这是她对那些有幸从事她这一行的人的建议。
Condemnation came swiftly.
她很快引起了众怒。
On May 9th Ms Qu published an apology, promising to “improve the way I communicate” and “care more for my colleagues”. A day later she stepped down.
5月9日，璩女士发表道歉声明，承诺将“改进个人的沟通方式”，“更加关心同事”。隔天她就离职了。
Robin Li, Baidu’s chief executive, was forced to weigh in, remarking in a staff meeting that the comments did not reflect the company’s values.
百度首席执行官李彦宏也被迫就此事表态，他在一次员工会议上表示，这些言论并不能反映公司的价值观。
Many Chinese netizens disagreed.
然而许多中国网民对此并不买账。
One noted that Ms Qu was merely “saying the quiet part out loud”.
有人认为，璩女士只是“说出了潜在的职场真相”。
Such attitudes are widespread among leaders of the country’s tech giants.
这种态度在中国科技巨头的高层中普遍存在。
Not long ago a job at one of these firms was seen as the height of achievement for the country’s graduates.
不久前，能在这些公司工作还被视为中国毕业生的最高成就。
Landing a role at the likes of Baidu, Alibaba or Tencent meant prestige, a big salary, generous benefits and lucrative stock options.
在百度、阿里巴巴或腾讯等公司任职意味着拥有声望、高薪、优厚的福利和丰厚的股票期权。
Even the notoriously gruelling hours did not deter applicants.
即使是声名狼藉的繁重工时，也没有让求职者望而却步。
Tech workers self-deprecatingly referred to themselves as “brick movers”, likening themselves to hard labourers, while boasting about the perks of their jobs. ***
科技工作者自嘲自己是“搬砖工”，把自己比作苦力，同时又在夸耀自己的工作待遇优越。
Attitudes began to slowly change in 2019 after Jack Ma, a co-founder of Alibaba, celebrated the “blessing” of what he called the “996” work week—working from 9am to 9pm, six days a week.
2019年，阿里巴巴联合创始人马云将他所谓的“996”工作制（每周六天，从早上9点工作到晚上9点）视为一种“福报”之后，人们的态度开始慢慢发生变化。
That set off a wave of online griping.
这在网上掀起了一股抱怨浪潮。
Before long workers began to speak of “007” shifts—24 hours a day, seven days a week.
不久之后，打工人们开始谈论“007”工作制——每周7天，每天24小时工作。
The deaths of a number of young Chinese tech workers stirred further controversy.
多名年轻的中国科技工作者的离世引发了更多争议。
In 2020 a 22-year-old worker at Pinduoduo, a Chinese e-commerce firm, died while travelling home from the office in the early hours of the morning. (Pinduoduo’s statement at the time did not comment on the cause of death.)
2020年，中国电子商务公司拼多多的一名22岁员工凌晨在从公司回家的途中死亡。（拼多多当时的声明并未说明死因。）
In 2022 a 25-year-old content screener at Bilibili, a YouTube-like app, died while working through the Lunar New Year holiday.
2022年，Bilibili（哔哩哔哩，一个类似于 YouTube 的应用程序）的一名25岁内容审核员在农历新年假期工作期间死亡。
Later that month a 28-year-old engineer at ByteDance, the maker of TikTok and its Chinese sister-app, Douyin, died suddenly after exercising.
同月晚些时候，字节跳动（TikTok 及其中国姊妹应用“抖音”的开发者）一名28岁的工程师在运动后猝死。
Bilibili denied its employee had been working overtime in the week leading up to his death, but vowed to hire an additional 1,000 screeners.
哔哩哔哩否认其员工在死亡前一周有加班情况，但承诺将增聘1000名审核员。
ByteDance did not comment on its worker’s hours.
字节跳动没有就其员工的工作时间发表声明。
An internal survey of staff at the company soon after the incident showed that over 70% clocked off work after 9pm, with nearly 40% staying past 10pm.
事发后不久，该公司对员工的内部调查显示，超过70%的员工在晚上9点后下班，近40%的员工在晚上10点后才下班。
More recently, a slowing economy has led many tech giants to cut costs.
最近，经济增长放缓导致许多科技巨头削减成本。
Perks have vanished while pay rises and promotions have been halted.
福利消失了，加薪和晋升也停止了。
Several companies have made sweeping layoffs.
一些公司进行了大规模裁员。
Employees with stock options in some companies have seen their value disappear.
一些公司的员工股票期权已经贬值。
A regulatory crackdown by China’s government on some tech firms has not helped.
中国政府对一些科技公司的监管打压也无济于事。
All this has eroded the appeal of working for China’s most dynamic companies.
所有这些都削弱了在中国最具活力的公司工作的吸引力。
Nearly half of the country’s university graduates now aspire to work at state-owned enterprises, up from 36% in 2020, according to a survey by Zhaopin, a recruitment company.
根据招聘公司智联招聘的一项调查，近半数的中国大学毕业生现在都希望到国有企业工作，而这一比例在2020年仅为36%。
State firms have a reputation for being slow and stuffy.
国有企业素有效率低下和沉闷古板的名声。
But they are also known as “iron rice bowls” that offer lifetime employment.
但它们也被称为“铁饭碗”，可以提供终身就业。
Over half of the survey’s respondents cited stability as the most important factor when choosing a job.
超过半数的受访者认为，稳定是选择工作时最重要的因素。
That is something the country’s tech giants are struggling to offer.
而这正是国内科技巨头难以提供的。
The extent to which the toxic culture of many of those firms bothers China’s government is unclear.
目前尚不清楚这些公司的有毒文化对中国政府产生了多大的困扰。
In 2021 the country’s top court declared that the “996” schedule was illegal.
2021年，中国最高法院宣布“996”工作制是非法的。
Instead, a growing number of burned-out workers are “lying flat”, opting for apathy over ambition in their careers.
相反，越来越多精疲力竭的打工人选择“躺平”，在事业上选择冷漠而非雄心壮志。
In time, the cost of bosses like Ms Qu may grow clearer.
随着时间的推移，像璩女士这样的领导者所付出的代价可能会越来越明显。