The 9-9-6 culture became widespread and notorious among tech startups and large internet companies in China during the 2010s.(Image Source: File)
The 9-9-6 rule is a notorious, highly demanding work schedule that originated in the fast-moving Chinese technology sector. It's a simple formula but demands an extreme commitment:
9: Work begins at 9:00 AM.
9: Work will stop at 9:00 PM.
6: The job requires working for 6 days a week from Monday to Saturday.
This routine totals 72 hours of work in a week, way past standard labor limits around the world.
The short answer is no, very little. If a person works by the rule of 9-9-6, then he or she is putting in 12 hours of work daily. Assuming there is an average of one hour to commute each way, that adds up to 2 hours of travel time.
Total Time Consumed: 12 hours of work + 2 hours of commute = 14 hours a day.
This leaves only 10 hours for everything else, including:
Sleeping, preferably for 7 to 8 hours in a day.
Eating meals.
Basic hygiene and chores.
With 7 to 8 hours dedicated to sleep, you are left with only 2 to 3 hours of non-work, non-sleep time daily.
Most of this time is consumed by things like cooking or showering, leaving almost no time for hobbies, family, friends, or rest. And, obviously, the one day off will be spent recovering from exhaustion.
The 9-9-6 culture became widespread and notorious among tech startups and large internet companies in China during the 2010s.
A very strong desire for rapid growth and market domination drove this, along with companies such as Alibaba being prominent advocates of the philosophy.
Whereas the concept of working long hours is not new, the specific, formalized term and its aggressive application to the workforce in tech did spread globally during this time.
Advocates of the 9-9-6 schedule often sell it to young ambitious employees on the basis of the following so-called "benefits":
Accelerated Career Growth: The greater number of hours worked translates to more experience, thus faster promotions coupled with an increase in salary.
Skill Development: The intense pressure forces employees to rapidly learn new skills and adapt, speeding up their professional development.
Company success: Young workers are informed that their sacrifice is directly contributing to the success and even national pride of their company.
However, these claimed benefits are widely debated because the extreme hours lead to high rates of burnout and health issues, often negating any perceived career advantages. This intense schedule was officially declared illegal by China's Supreme People's Court in 2021.
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