Whispers of change as some Chinese firms tell staff to work less

A handful of major Chinese companies like home appliance maker Midea have new badges of honor in 2025: Mandatory clock-off times for staff and bans on after-hours meetings.

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BEIJING -

Staff at Midea once toiled till late in the evening, but now they are told to leave by 6.20pm. The company's page on social media app WeChat even shows a photo of people listening to a band with a caption that reads: "What do you do after work? It's after work when life really starts."

In China, this counts as radical corporate messaging, a sharp contrast to "996" or the practice of working from 9am to 9pm six days a week - famously called a "huge blessing" by Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and an integral part of its tech sector for much of the past 15 years.

Other companies have also made changes, even if not quite as dramatic. At appliance maker Haier, employees have celebrated on social media the introduction of a five-day work week.

Workers at DJI, the world's largest drone manufacturer, have posted about their joy at a new policy declaring offices must be vacated by 9pm.

"No more worrying about missing the last metro, no more worrying about waking up the wife when I get home," wrote one DJI worker, who said he often used to work past midnight.

Haier and DJI did not respond to requests for comment.