Young people in China “Silicon Valley”: No sleep, no “love”, no enjoyment

“I have not thought of living a real life,” Yu said, referring to existence as his own. “Because I’m building something, and before completing that, nothing else will exist in my mind.”

Last year, China had four new billionaires every week, and technology is a new generation of wealth, followed by real estate, according to Hurun Report.

For every thousand people who hope to become the next billionaire Jack Ma, there’s a success story. Jack Ma, who built the Alibaba Group, the parent company of the Morning Chinese Men’s Times (SCMP), from a small company in his own apartment into one of China’s largest e-commerce groups.

SCMP talked to technology workers at Zhongguancun and other places in Beijing to get a picture of life in “Silicon Valley of China”, where famous internet corporations like Baidu, Meituan are located. and ByteDance.

In China’s technology industry, young employees and businessmen must fight exhausted at work, while also worrying about bigger things such as salary levels, layoffs or gender-discriminating work environments. count.

Some eventually realize that they need to achieve a better balance between work and life for their own health. Others are trying to find a way out of a promising technology world but also full of hype.

Work too far

Once the graveyard of Chinese feudal mandarins, Zhongguancun is located in the northwest of Beijing Belt 4. In the past three decades, this place has had generations of successful Chinese entrepreneurs, from Lenovo aircraft manufacturer to Sina news portal. According to local government data, there are about 80 tech start-ups born in Zhongguancun every day.

In recent years, Zhongguancun has become more and more crowded and expensive, making large companies find ways to move offices to more remote areas, so these places have turned into the latest technology centers of the North. Kinh.

A technology center is Xierqi in northwest Beijing, where companies such as Baidu, Sina, NetEase and Didi are located. Another area is Wangjing on the northeast edge of Beijing, which is now home to Meituan Dianping transport group, a dating app Momo and Alibaba’s regional headquarters.

That causes a new problem for workers: going to work every day. Yang, 33, is a product manager at an internet company in Xierqi. Every day, he got up from 6 am to move 2 1/2 hours to work, after catching 2 different subway lines and a bus route.

“As long as there is a chair, I can sleep, no matter what the way is and how crowded the train is,” Yang said.

Some people avoid the nightmare of commuting. Bu, a marketing expert in his 20s, recently moved to an old apartment building in Xierqi for convenience, which is a 10-minute walk away.

Bu shared a 3-bedroom apartment with 2 other women working in the same area, each losing 4,000 yuan (about US $ 600) to pay the rent. Because of the high demand, the rent in Xierqi area is even higher than the money she paid for her old apartment in central Beijing.

Another disadvantage with Bu is that she no longer has easy access to cafes, restaurants or art performances – things she loves while living in the center of the capital. “I feel like I’m going to the country from Beijing,” she said.

Working a lot of time

Technology companies in China often expect their employees to work more time to prove their enthusiasm. So a schedule called 996 has formed: working from 9 am to 9 pm, 6 days per week.

ByteDance Company in Zhongguancun, which currently has a popular TikTok short video app in China, has reduced its load a bit by offering a “big / small week” policy, of which almost 6,000 employees work every 5 days a week have a 6-day work week.

Yang’s wife, 29, works as a product manager in Wangjing, before being known as Korean Street. When the couple often returns home near the middle of the night after a long day of work. They tried for months to give birth, but were too tired to “love” in the middle of the work week.

“I hope we can promote this,” Yang said, expressing concern that when his wife turns 30, having children is more difficult.

“They want to solve all the problems in your life,” said Wang, a 26-year-old manager. “Like, don’t think about anything else, just work.”

“Such” benefits “do not help workers stay with the company longer. The average working time of technology workers in Silicon Valley (USA) is nearly 4 years, while in Chinese technology companies it is less than 2 and a half years.

The line between work and private life is increasingly blurred by the company’s incentives such as free food and travel, gym and barber on the spot, as well as a variety of entertainment and letter options. other relaxation. Although Silicon Valley corporations in California (USA) such as Google and Facebook also offer similar benefits, a technology worker in China feels they are exploited.

Many cases of stroke because of overwork

There have even been some cases of young Chinese technology workers dying young, which the Chinese press and social network consider to be overworked. In 2015, Li Junming, a developer of Tencent, had a stroke and died while walking with his pregnant wife.

A year later, Jin Bo, 34, deputy leader of Tianya online forum, also suffered a stroke at a subway station in Beijing. Last year, a 25-year-old employee at the DJI unmanned aircraft manufacturer also died of a stroke.

Economic depression

Although the overtime routine stems from the start-ups, partly because of the large amounts of venture capital investment and the desire of investors to get results soon, these cases have changed changed in the past year.

By the end of 2018, many technology companies have announced plans to cut benefits, bonuses and jobs amid the worst economic recession in China for nearly three decades. by.

In January, venture capital deals in China reached only $ 4.3 billion, down nearly 70% from a year earlier.

In the context of the difficult economy, making investment capital less, Yang is wondering what to do next. With more than 10 years of experience, he currently holds a mid-level position at a leading Internet company, but has achieved certain success in his career. He compared himself to a construction worker, who could make good money due to the high work intensity but was easily replaced by a young, lower-wage worker.

Yang thought about doing business at home so he could spend time with his future children. “I am willing to help my wife’s career and take care of my family,” he said.

Those who choose to stay in the technology industry also have their own battles to survive. Xu Kaiqiang, working at start-up Vincross in Wangjing, is learning how to be a better team leader, but he feels he must start with his own appearance first. After dieting and exercising, Xu lost 20kg in 6 months. “I can’t lose face to the company,” he said.

The female technology staff even more difficult. Ren, who works at Xierqi, said she refused opportunities from companies that demanded to work according to formula 996 and told no interviewers questions such as: “Women become developers.” Is the technology difficult? ”or“ Are you willing to break up with your boyfriend? ”.

Such clear gender discrimination – from male priority job advertisements to discriminatory marketing campaigns for women – still happens rife in Chinese technology companies despite having Some efforts have changed in recent years.

For Yu, he is making small changes in his lifestyle, like running on a treadmill or making his own breakfast at home every day. On a recent afternoon, he first dressed for a number of years – a Uniqlo blue shirt. However, the next item on his shopping list is very popular at Zhongguancun. He also intends to buy a self-balancing two-wheeler to save time working.