ChinAI #378: China’s Two-day Weekend Defenders

Greetings from a world where…

“Even if I have to be a workhorse, I still want to be a happy workhorse” [做牛马也要做快乐的牛马]

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Feature Translation: The Young People Who Reject 6-day Work Week Jobs

Context: Many of you may be familiar with China’s “996” work culture (9AM to 9PM, six days a week). In recent years, we’ve seen some opposition to this brutal schedule. This Perpetual Light Studio [极昼工作室] longform article explores a trend of young people rejecting jobs with six-day work weeks. I like these Perpetual Light Studio pieces because they are always rooted in many interviews with a diverse range of sources. In a previous ChinAI issue, I translated their article about the intrusions of AI surveillance in Chinese universities (ChinAI #357)

Key Passages: As a human resources employee at a mid-sized internet company, Annie keeps getting rejected by job candidates who want a two-day weekend. Keeping track of he own statistics, she found that “over 80% of candidates who received job offers ultimately declined the positions because the company only offered one day off per week.”

• She pushed her manager to change the work schedule. Fortunately, the manager also wanted two days off. The policy was adjusted to alternating long and short workweeks (six days one week, five days the next). As a result, more candidates are now accepting job offers.
• Having worked in HR for a decade, Annie observed that today’s young workers are placing more emphasis on work-life balance: “Even if I have to be a workhorse, I still want to be a happy workhorse.”

Annie’s observations may reflect a more general trend.

• The article cites data from a Zhaopin survey “New Standards for ‘Good Jobs’: 2025 Workplace Values Survey Report” which finds: “64.1% of professionals rank ‘work-life balance’ as their top consideration when choosing a job, pushing ‘competitive salary and benefits,’ which long held the top spot, into second place.” This trend is especially pronounced among respondents born after 1995 or 2000.
• From a report by Banyuetan, a magazine published by Xinhua News Agency: “In the past, graduates primarily sought high salaries and rapid career advancement, often willing to endure intense work pressure for the sake of professional growth. Today’s new generation of young people, however, faces relatively less pressure to survive and places a greater emphasis on personal well-being and quality of life.”

A few other interesting nuggets from this longform piece:

• These preferences may reflect regional differences. Chenyu Wang, an HR staffer for an advertising agency, points out that her company’s Chengdu branch had to switch to a two-day weekend. From the article: “Wang noted that whenever candidates learned about the six-day workweek during initial online communications, they would immediately vanish, stating: ‘I need my own nightlife; I want to go out and have fun after getting off work.’” Apparently, Chengdu, China’s westernmost major city, is known for its slower pace of life.
• On social media, a faction of “Two-Day Weekend Defenders” [双休侠] has emerged. They urge fellow workers to commit to a two-day weekend as a non-negotiable. Some of these defenders are currently employed but maintain active resumes on job platforms so they can send a message to companies by rejecting positions that only offer one day off.
• From the article: “‘We apologize, but we are currently seeking a position that offers a two-day weekend; your company does not meet our criteria.’ This is the script 33-year-old ‘two-day weekend defender’ Minghuan Wei uses, mimicking the formal rejection language companies often send to job applicants. He has used it to decline six companies that failed to offer a two-day weekend. ‘Fighting the dark arts with the dark arts,’ he says.”

FULL TRANSLATION: The Young People Who Reject 6-day Work Week Jobs

ChinAI Links (Four to Forward)

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This Geopolitechs post provided some good insights on China’s latest export registration requirements, including the proposal to expand export controls to certain categories of AI models.

Jeff needs to read: Assessing Chinese and U.S. Technology Diffusion Capacity

A strong group of RAND researchers published a report that assesses national diffusion capacity, based on their own analytical framework. Their conclusion is that the United States “holds an overall advantage in diffusion capacity.”

Should-read: Good old-fashioned engineering can close the 100,000-year “data gap” in robotics

I was going back through this previous translation on China’s overhyped embodied AI sector. In the comments, ChinAI reader Lyn Jeffery recommended this excellent piece on the 100,000 year data gap in AI-enabled robotics.

Should-read: Meet Eliza Zhang, Book Scanner and Viral Video Star

The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine is so helpful for my research. I enjoyed this profile of one of the initiative’s staff.

Thank you for reading and engaging.

These are Jeff Ding’s (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at chinainewsletter@gmail.com or on Twitter at @jjding99

All names in this piece are pseudonyms.