Alibaba founder defends overtime work culture as 'huge blessing'
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Re: Alibaba founder defends overtime work culture as 'huge blessing'
#2“I personally think that being able to work 996 is a huge blessing,” he said in remarks posted on the company’s WeChat account.
“Many companies and many people don’t have the opportunity to work 996,” Ma said. “If you don’t work 996 when you are young, when can you ever work 996?”
9am to 9pm, six days a week.
Re: Alibaba founder defends overtime work culture as 'huge blessing'
#3“Let me ask everyone, if you don’t put out more time and energy than others, how can you achieve the success you want?”
To be fair, Ma worked 996 when he started his own company, which is different from being forced to do so because you can't find a developer job that doesn't require you to work 996.
Re: Alibaba founder defends overtime work culture as 'huge blessing'
#4“Let me ask everyone, if you don’t put out more time and energy than others, how can you achieve the success you want?” To be fair, Ma worked 996 when he started his own company, which is different from being forced to do so because you can't find a developer job that doesn't require you to work 996.
Ma did so knowing the potential upside was becoming a billionaire. How many of these workers can say that?
Re: Alibaba founder defends overtime work culture as 'huge blessing'
#5I expect a billionare to say he needs his workers to have no free time and do nothing but work. Why? It makes him more money. It does not forward the aspirations of the workers, it just becomes a race to the bottom that the workers lose on. This is good for the already rich, because it makes them richer. This "996" encouragement from the rich is just an expression of their desire for others to help make them richer and others poorer.
In short: This is the avarice of Ma speaking, and nothing else.
Re: Alibaba founder defends overtime work culture as 'huge blessing'
#6It is indeed a "huge blessing." A "huge blessing" for the owners of companies who are able to use "culture" as an excuse for the exploitation of workers. The upside of this exploitation only ever accrues to owners, never to employees, and the vast majority of employees, even in tech / startups, don't own any equity in the companies they work for, so there's really no excuse for this kind of nonsense to be taken seriously.
Re: Alibaba founder defends overtime work culture as 'huge blessing'
#7“Let me ask everyone, if you don’t put out more time and energy than others, how can you achieve the success you want?” To be fair, Ma worked 996 when he started his own company, which is different from being forced to do so because you can't find a developer job that doesn't require you to work 996.
Agreed. This kind of unadulterated competition is a race to the bottom for their employees. Nevermind that it's almost certainly counter-productive and that they'll just be pushing a bunch of already burned-out employees who'll inevitably be making tired mistakes and developing outright resentment for their paymasters.
Re: Alibaba founder defends overtime work culture as 'huge blessing'
#8> If you join Alibaba, you should get ready to work 12 hours a day, otherwise why do you come to AlibabA?
Wow. Sounds like a greedy capitalist. I would understand 995 if workers were properly compensated. But 996 is almost inhumane. It stuck me as the same tone as when Jeff Bezos defended Amazons work culture. I guess e-commerce must work with very thin margins.
The only person that should be working 996 are the founders. Everyone else should not be expected to work on the weekends.
Re: Alibaba founder defends overtime work culture as 'huge blessing'
#9> If you join Alibaba, you should get ready to work 12 hours a day, otherwise why do you come to AlibabA? Wow. Sounds like a greedy capitalist. I would understand 995 if workers were properly compensated. But 996 is almost inhumane. It stuck me as the same tone as when Jeff Bezos defended Amazons work culture. I guess e-commerce must work with very thin margins. The only person that should be working 996 are the foun…
“If you join (company) you should get ready to work at 30% discount, to sacrifice health, family and romantic relationships so that I can get richer. Otherwise why would you come to (company)?”
Re: Alibaba founder defends overtime work culture as 'huge blessing'
#10Do not listen to this P.O.S.
The more I learn about the world, the more I'm convinced I'm living in paradise (Europe). Our chinese coworkers hate 996 as much as anybody, but social pressure keeps them in the rat race.
This is totally crazy, sick and stupid.