- Link to Article: https://996.icu/#/en_US
- 996 has become a hot topic among Chinese software engineers. Many large tech-company are adopting the work scheme of working 6 days every week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. hence the domain name 996. ICU is a joke made by software engineers who are suffering from this work scheme saying the once they get sick, they will be sent to ICU immediately. Despite the long working hours, those tech-company are making the overtime "voluntary" so the engineers won't get paid for the time they work overtime. I think by creating this website/repository, the software engineers in China are defending their right in their own ways and is a courageous move.
This is such a toxic culture that should not have happened. I am glad that the workers are taking a stance against this. I hope that the Chinese government can enact a fair labor law that can protect not only the software workers, but also workers from every industry from predatory and terrible working conditions. It may be a pipe dream for now, but there is always hope for the better future if we act now.