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How GitHub became a bulletin board for Chinese tech worker complaints (archive - disable scripts to prevent 404)
"For years China's white-collar tech workers have been some of the most privileged in the country—and were prepared to put in any number of working hours in return. Now, as the economy slows and tech giants announce layoffs, pent-up anger over working hours is bubbling over.
The most prominent protest over work hours is the 996.ICU project launched at the end of March on Microsoft's GitHub code-sharing community. In days, the attempt to catalog companies who demand a 996 schedule—9 am to 9 pm, six days a week—became the site's most book-marked or "starred" project, racking up more than 190,000 stars.
"By following the "996" work schedule, you are risking yourself getting into the ICU (Intensive Care Unit)," says the "996.ICU" project description, whose creators aren't known. It calls on tech workers to add names and evidence of excessive hours to a "blacklist," proposes requiring companies to agree to an "anti-996 license" as a condition for using open-source software, and urges people to "go home at 6 pm without feeling sorry."
Media reports on deaths of young tech workers from heart attacks have also raised concern about the deep-seated culture of overwork, even though it's unclear whether they were related to work stress. "The overwork culture is rooted in China's tech industry. I worked 996 for nine months. During that time, I had serious insomnia due to the high pressure. So, I quit, " said GitHub member Zhang, a former software developer who put a star on the project to show his support.
Zhang, who asked to be identified only by his last name, said putting the anti-996 complaints on GitHub made sense for tech workers—it's a place they naturally gather, and more importantly, it's not blocked in China given its usefulness to developers and tech firms alike. "If you protest on Weibo or WeChat, more likely it will be controlled by either tech companies or the government," he said."
Hooray for Chinese software developers! I totally appreciate burnout. As a UNIX systems and network administrator for over thirty years, I've been on call for more than half my entire life span. It's had a serious impact upon my health and relationships, including my relationships with employers - whom always assume I am at their complete disposal and threaten me with retaliatory unemployment when I am not.
Nowadays, they want me to do this while working for them, on a temporary basis, for wages that I haven't seen since the 1980s or 1990s. Seriously. It's like there's a Cold War against workers. Nothing less than a state of war could explain the burning desire of today's employers to insure that I and my dependents never have an opportunity to go to college or live in a home of their own ... never mind, have a vacation, somewhere, or a second, vacation, home - for emergencies.
Do you know a single person in any urban area who can afford to have a spare bedroom for emergency guests? We, as a country, have NO emergency capacity. We have NO flexibility. We have our backs against the wall. Why is this? It's sad that American workers are too gutless and spineless and devoid of innovation to conceive of such a protest, and have to look across the seas, to mainland China, for organizational inspiration, so as to solve our local labor problems. What we need is a 'Yelp' for employees. But where does the revenue come from? Soylentils, put your minds to work. What do YOU think?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @05:46PM (3 children)
I think you should have listened to the libertarians who told you that inflation is a hidden tax on wages that when left unconstrained (without a backing for the currency) will increase wealth inequality to insane levels. Also, that you should buy bitcoin because the world economy ponzi scheme is nearing collapse and governments are never going to be able to agree amongst themselves on what is "fair", so it will default to bitcoin.
But I'm sure you would just shit on those ideas and prefer to continue believing your false worldview.
I know someone who does henna "tattoos" for a living who lives in an urban area. I am visiting this week and they have a spare bedroom for me. If people really want a spare bedroom they would pay for it or choose to live somewhere cheaper where they could afford it. I find it difficult to believe that someone with coding skills is having more financial trouble than someone doing henna other than via poor life decisions (you irresponsibly had kids you can't afford, etc).
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday April 15 2019, @06:06PM (1 child)
Well, the winter before last, I stayed in Sacramento, CA with someone who had two spare bedrooms. It happens.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @06:47PM
Actually, now that I think about it I know multiple people in downtown chicago with spare bedrooms. And these are definitely working class people.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Tuesday April 16 2019, @03:35AM
If they are good enough to make a living at it, they are probably skilled. It's a niche market (how many henna tattooists are there?) but there is no reason that a skilled artist shouldn't make well above average wages. A henna artist having a spare bedroom says nothing about the general downward pressure on tech wages.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.