Another Pinduoduo employee death renews concerns over China’s ‘996’ work culture

Just a week following the demise of a female Pinduoduo worker who had been in her early 20s, the Chinese ecommerce giant has reported the incident of yet another employee’s death, this time by suicide.

Photo credit: Pinduoduo

The employee, who was identified in the company statement as Lin and said to had been a “high-achieving” technology development engineer, reportedly jumped from the 27th floor of his apartment building in Changsha on Saturday.

An internal investigation found that Lin had applied for a leave of absence from his supervisor on January 8, a day before his death, without giving a reason.

“To support our employees, we are also setting up an internal channel and dedicated team to provide psychological counseling and consultation services for emergencies,” said a Pinduoduo spokesman.

The recent sudden deaths of two Pinduoduo employees have renewed concerns over the “996” work culture among Chinese tech companies, which has employees working from 9 am to 9 pm six days a week. They have also led to many on the internet calling for a boycott of the company.

Meanwhile, a former front-end engineer from Pinduoduo has been allegedly fired for posting online about a colleague being taken by an ambulance after collapsing at work.

In a response to this, the company in a statement said that the employee was fired not because of posting a photo online, but because he had posted malicious extreme words and breached their code of conduct in the employee handbook.

In light of these events, the Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau has commenced an investigation into the ecommerce firm.

The state-controlled China Central Television has also voiced its opposition against trading human life for profit and called for organizations to step up regulations to protect workers.

Update (January 12, 12:08 pm): This article was updated to add Pinduoduo’s response to the former front-end engineer being fired for posting about a colleague being taken by an ambulance after collapsing at work.