996 working hour system

Deaths due to long working hours per 100,000 people (15+), joint study conducted by World Health Organization and International Labour Organization in 2016 The 996 working hour system (Chinese: 996工作制) is a work schedule that derives its name from its requirement that workers clock in from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, 6 days per week, resulting in employees working 12 hours per day and 72 hours per week. It is practiced illegally by some companies in China. A number of Mainland Chinese internet and tech companies have adopted this system as their official or de facto work schedule. Critics argue that the 996 working hour system is a violation of the Labour Law of the People's Republic of China and have called it "modern slavery".

Difference in working hours (orange) during waking hours between a typical 9 to 5 and the 996 schedule In March 2019, an "anti-996" protest was launched via GitHub. Since then, the 996 issue has been met with growing discontent in China.