China ByteDance Introduces 10to7 Five-Day Workweek System Replacing 9to9 Six-Day Schedule

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, a social media platform for sharing 15-second videos, has moved away from the widespread overtime culture known as the '996 work schedule' in China's IT industry and introduced the '1075 work schedule' starting this month.

According to the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 4th, ByteDance requested about 100,000 employees on the 1st to start working from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., five days a week under the '1075 work schedule.'

This signifies the end of the '996 work schedule.' The 996 work schedule refers to working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week, a common overtime practice in China's IT industry.

Amid growing complaints about overwork, in 2019, Chinese IT workers launched the '996.ICU' campaign on the American code-sharing website GitHub to criticize the 996 work schedule.

996.ICU means "If you work 9 to 9, 6 days a week, you will end up in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)."

SCMP interpreted ByteDance's '1075 work schedule' as "a change that transforms the lives of many who are accustomed to grueling night and weekend shifts."

SCMP cited multiple sources saying, "ByteDance employees now need approval for overtime, which is limited to 3 hours on weekdays and 8 hours on weekends."

It added that employees will receive 1.5 times their regular pay for weekday overtime and double pay for weekend overtime.

A source said, "Overtime pay requires approval from superiors," and "Employees will now avoid night meetings and try to leave work early."

News of ByteDance's introduction of the '1075 work schedule' sparked significant attention on Chinese social media.

SCMP reported that as of the afternoon of the 2nd, the news had been viewed 270 million times on Weibo, and on Zhihu, China's knowledge-sharing platform, heated discussions were ongoing about whether the news was true.

ByteDance's move has attracted even more attention as it comes amid strong criticism of the '996 work schedule' by the Chinese government.

Since the second half of last year, the Chinese government has strengthened regulations on large internet companies, sending a message that excessive overtime practices will not be tolerated.

Accordingly, ByteDance and Kuaishou abolished the biweekly Saturday work system starting in August.

Last month, Chinese big tech workers launched an online campaign called 'Working Hours,' recording clock-in and clock-out times, lunch breaks, weekly workdays, job titles, and more in a spreadsheet to investigate overtime conditions.

SCMP reported, "According to the 'Working Hours' survey, employees of Alibaba, ByteDance, Baidu, and Bilibili said they leave work around 9 p.m., while Meituan and Pinduoduo employees reported working until 10 p.m. or later," adding, "However, the 'Working Hours' spreadsheet has since been removed from the internet."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.