My first reaction to Chinese technology workers’ protests about long working hours was: how quaint. My second: how old-fashioned.
The “anti-996” campaign is blacklisting companies such as Alibaba and JD.com where, it claims, shifts of 9am to 9pm, six days a week, are common. Alibaba has not commented. JD.com said it did not oblige staff to work such hours but it encouraged everyone to “fully invest themselves”.
The protest is quaint, because in white-collar offices, whether law firms, software companies or news organisations, a 955 lifestyle has long given way to something more flexible, or, in the current jargon, agile. It’s old-fashioned because working hours have been a flashpoint almost since managers started organising workers for greater productivity 200 years ago.