Hong Kong-listed Youzan, a Chinese e-commerce SaaS service vendor, has been caught in a recent whirlwind of harsh criticism online due mostly to some of the company’s brazen announcements made at its year-end gala held over the weekend.
The Hangzhou-based company, which helps merchants establish, operate, manage, and promote their WeChat stores, demands its employees to follow the Chinese internet industry’s 996 routine to punch in at 930AM and punch out at 9PM and work six days a week.
Angered employees posted the announcement on China’s question-and-answer platform Zhihu, resulting in a wide discussion in China’s cyberspace.
Bai Ya, CEO of Youzan defended this will be a good deed in hindsight on grounds that it would let more people know his company’s culture and propel those who want to join the firm towards a more thorough and informative decision.
While some industry insiders attributed Youzan’s public disobedience to china’s labour law to the lack of a powerful trade union in the country, online rumour has it that the company was actually in a downsizing move, the announcement is to force its employees to leave without compensating them.
Youzan shares closed 3.57 percent higher Monday at 58 Hong Kong cents per share, defying all outcries in the cyberspace.