Discuss anything related to China.
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讨论中国的地方。
社区规则：
零、台湾、西藏、新疆、和香港都是中国的一部分。
一、不要跑题。
二、友善对待同志。
三、不要传播谣言或偏执思想。
The Supreme People's Court didn't deem "996" illegal in 2021, it was illegal all along, what it actually did is include examples of "996" in a list of typical labor disputes: (Chinese article) 2021-08-26 https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun-xiangqing-319151.html. The actual government entities handling the cases were local "Labor Dispute Arbitration Committees", some went to court.
996 is definitely still a thing, I don't know how widespread it is, but it'll probably still be around for a long while.
it was illegal all along, what it actually did is include an example of “996” in a list of typical labor disputes: (Chinese article, first example is the “996” case)
Ok, that makes way more sense.
but it’ll probably still be around for a long while
Why are they letting it slide? Won't everyone who worked 996 eventually hate the government?
Why are they letting it slide?
I'm sure that if the solution was as simple as strictly and proactively enforcing labor laws, the government would be trying that, rather than build up discontent. Another possibility is that some local governments are turning a blind eye to top economic contributors in the region.
Having normal working hours for jobs that were previously 996 or even 007 might result in a significantly lower income due to lack of overtime pay. Examples of this are low-barrier factory jobs that basically pay the minimum income and a sizable portion of income comes from overtime hours. Other examples at the other end of the income spectrum, where high-paying tech jobs have even higher pay due to overtime hours.
This is probably a complicated topic that is affected by factors like having a large working population, not enough jobs to match the growing population of people who have undergone higher education, a developing socialist country that is still facing pressure from the international capitalists, or lots of things that I haven't thought about.
In short, maybe the solution is really as simple as enforcing the law, maybe not, personally I think it's a complicated issue.
not enough jobs to match the growing population of people who have undergone higher education
This is exactly the thing you need to abolish 996, isn't it? If there's not enough jobs, then you can split one job between two people. Obviously it's not that easy for every sector, but it should be feasible for factory work.
Which brings me to my next point: I guess 996 could be ignored if it's only for the top tech companies and young people had other viable alternatives. A point of reference would be Silicon Valley. I'm aware they expect overtime there too, maybe less though, or maybe the same without a catchy name like 996, I don't know. But if people working low income jobs are coerced to working overtime because their pay won't be enough otherwise, then it seems like a big issue.