Jack Ma Calls China's 72-Hour Work Week 'A Blessing'

Jack Ma, China’s richest person who made his billions in ecommerce, is taking heavy flak for urging Chinese employees to work 72 hours a week.

He believes Chinese employees should work 12 hours a day, six days a week. Ma is an unabashed champion of what the Chinese call “996,” meaning working 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. He’s been quoted as saying 996 is a gift “beyond monetary gains.”

Ma recently doubled down on this call for unrelenting 996 in the wake of mounting demands from Chinese tech employees for more work-life balance, Ma reaffirmed his approval of extreme overtime in a series of posts shared on Alibaba’s WeChat account.

“If we find things we like, 996 is not a problem,” wrote Ma, a former English teacher, in a long blog post Sunday on Chinese social media site Weibo. “If you don’t like (your work), every minute is torture.”

Ma told employees of Alibaba, the firm he founded, last week that “I personally think that being able to work 996 is a huge blessing,” especially for the young. “How do you achieve the success you want without paying extra effort and time?”

And people unwilling to do 12-hour days at Alibaba need not bother applying.

“Why bother joining?” he wrote. “We don’t lack those who work eight hours comfortably.”

"Those who can stick to a 996 schedule are those who have found their passion beyond monetary gains."

A 72-hour work week is not unique in China's technology industry. As a matter of fact, according to Mr. Cheng, a Chinese augmented reality company founder, "most companies that oppose 996 are now bankrupt.”

Ma’s liking for a 12 hour day is drawing heavy criticism from Chinese social media users, some of whom are saying some unsavory things. One Weibo user lashed out, saying, “Did you ever think about the elderly at home who need care, (or) the children who need company?”

“If all enterprises enforce a 996 schedule, no one will have children” as there won’t be time to start a family.

The Communist Party of China doesn’t see things the same way Ma does. State-run newspaper People’s Daily on Sunday wrote, “Advocating hard work and commitment does not mean forcing overtime. The mandatory enforcement of 996 overtime culture not only reflects the arrogance of business managers, but also is unfair and impractical.”

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has found that productivity is highest when people work fewer hours. It also said worker output actually drops once people work more than 48 hours per week.