China’s Tech Workforce Faces Mass AI-Driven Layoffs: Report
A report says China’s major internet firms have cut more than 1.3 lakh jobs in 18 months as AI coding tools reshape work, intensifying pressure beyond the old 996 culture.
New Delhi: China’s well-known “996” work culture—shifts from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week—has given way to a harsher reality as artificial intelligence tools increasingly replace programmers, according to a new report.
The Sri Lanka-based Daily Mirror said layoffs in China’s tech sector have surged, with the country’s five major internet giants cutting more than 1.3 lakh employees over the past 18 months.
Jobs at companies such as Tencent, Alibaba and ByteDance were long seen as a path to prosperity, even though the health costs were severe. Programmers worked late nights, faced high stress and, in some cases, died young. The report cited the case of a programmer who collapsed at the age of 32 after years of gruelling hours, sparking online outrage. It described a climate of constant anxiety, with workers fearing they would fall behind if they did not study technical papers even on weekends, and lives marked by limited social interaction.
