Work & Hustle2019informal

996

jiǔ jiǔ liù

Working 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week — describes the grueling work culture in Chinese tech companies.

Origin & Background

Became a major talking point in 2019 when tech workers created "996.ICU" on GitHub to protest overwork culture.

I can't meet up this week — my company does 996.

996工作制让人身心疲惫。(The 996 work schedule is physically and mentally exhausting.)

nèi juǎn

Involution — excessive, often pointless competition where everyone works harder but nobody gains more.

dǎ gōng rén

Working people / wage slaves — a self-deprecating term workers use to describe themselves.

kǎ diǎn

Arriving at exactly the last possible moment — being precisely on time with zero margin.

gē jiǔ cài

Harvesting leeks — scamming or exploiting consumers/investors, especially through overpriced products or bad investments.