Some Chinese companies reduce working hours

A handful of major Chinese companies have new badges of honour this year: mandatory clock-off times for staff and bans on after-hours meetings, Reuters writes.

Staff at home appliance maker Midea once toiled till late in the evening, but now they’re told to leave by 6:20 p.m.

In China, this counts as radical corporate messaging, a sharp contrast to “996” or the practice of working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week․

Other companies have also made changes, even if not quite as dramatic. At fellow 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 9 p.m.

“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.