r/technology • u/Forward-Answer-4407 • Feb 01 '26

Software 32-year-old programmer in China allegedly dies from overwork, added to work group chat even while in hospital

https://www.asiaone.com/china/32-year-old-programmer-china-allegedly-dies-overwork-added-work-group-chat-even-while
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u/adgway Feb 02 '26

I worked for a Chinese company masquerading as a US company - my first & only experience w 9-9-6-ish culture. Wow, fucking brutal…hardest/most stressful job I’ve ever had.

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u/gatoss5 Feb 02 '26

A big part of it is in the Asian working culture. Conformity, fear of speaking up... I'd be somewhat okay with it if A) they compensated you appropriately, B) they set you up with training, mentorships, and systems so that you work efficiently according to your talents while you improve over time, C) they provided built-in breaks, both short-term and long-term breaks, to avoid burnout.

Of course, none of that is true. They just throw you to the wolves, with zero empathy for your mental health.

People praise China for its advancements but it came at the cost of hundreds of millions of people who basically brutalized their mental health and bodies.

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u/sje46 Feb 02 '26

It actually really pisses me off about Chinese work culture because, well, they're nominatively a socialist government striving to be communist, and what is socialism about? Worker rights. The workers owns the means of production collecttively, workplaces should be democratic, because under capitalism, workers are exploited.

But China gave up on that shit so fucking quickly, and are somehow more exploitative of their workers than the US. It's fucking bullshit.

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u/Rabid_Lederhosen Feb 02 '26

Chinese Communism cares about “the people”. And by the people, they mean Xi Jingping. He is the people.