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CNN
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Like hundreds of millions of workers in China, Hao Zeyu, an algorithm engineer at an electric car maker, will have five days off this week for the Labor Day holiday. But he’s not in the mood for a party.
In order to take the vacation, Hao must work an extra day every weekend, just before and after the vacation.
To add insult to injury, two of his official vacation days will be Saturday and Sunday. This means that only one day out of every five days will count as a real holiday.
China’s custom of moving work days to weekends and providing long breaks on major holidays is known as “adjusted rest” or “adjusted rest.” The scheme, introduced in 1999 to stimulate consumer spending after the Asian financial crisis, was the subject of much online outrage in the weeks leading up to this year’s May 1 holiday.
“I really don’t like it,” Hao told CNN. “I think this policy was aimed at promoting consumption at a certain stage of the country’s development, but I no longer support it,” he added.
So why did a decades-old policy cause such unrest in a country where the Communist Party leadership honors International Workers’ Day every year?
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Due to the post-coronavirus downturn in the world’s second-largest economy, workers dared to apply for additional time off on top of the officially recognized time off they had previously been able to take without worry. They say they are increasingly worried about losing their jobs if the situation arises.
And they are being asked to work harder than ever before as employers seek to do more with less amid mounting economic hardships such as the real estate crisis, declining foreign investment and weak consumption. He says that he is being treated.
Complaints about this year’s Labor Day holiday arrangements have surged on Chinese social media in recent weeks. Many have accused the government of prioritizing business over dire needs, and this is precisely the problem.
People have been venting their dissatisfaction with hashtags such as “Don’t pretend we don’t hear voices against the restitution policy” and “May Day restitution policy,” which have collectively been viewed more than 560 million times. It is recorded.
One user wrote that the online debate was not just a policy debate, but an embodiment of “physical and mental exhaustion caused by abnormal overtime.”
“What we are longing for is an effective respite that is urgently needed from overwork,” the official added.
“I wish people would take more vacations instead of shifting their schedules to take long vacations,” another wrote on the social media platform Weibo.
“If there were no (real) vacations, who would be in the mood to spend money?” the person wrote.
He Penglei/China News Service/VCG/Getty Images
Tourists visit the Qianximen Jialing River Bridge during the May Day holiday in Chongqing, China, May 1, 2023.
To make matters worse, “planned” vacations often result in scrambles for hard-to-find train tickets, hiked hotel prices and disruptions at popular tourist destinations, Hao told CNN.
Labor Day isn’t the only holiday eligible for adjusted leave policy.
Authorities are also changing working days and creating a seven-day holiday known as “Golden Week” around the Chinese New Year, which is celebrated in January or February, and the National Day on October 1.
Wellington University senior lecturer Christian Yao said China’s economy is “in the midst of a very difficult period” as it seeks to transform from a manufacturing powerhouse to a knowledge-based economy.
He said workers are beginning to question where the country is headed. The economic slowdown is forcing companies to increase productivity while reducing costs.
“Workers are being forced to work harder for fear of losing their jobs and at the same time fearing whether they will get better wages if they find another job,” he said.
They are accustomed to working long hours under China’s “996” work culture (a practice of working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week, common in the country’s tech companies, startups, and other private companies). There are workers, and now there are workers who are not. Mr Yao said he refused to put up with adjusted labor policy.
The policy will allow China to designate 25 days or more as official holidays. However, without this measure, workers would receive 11 days of vacation, which is still in line with many other countries. For example, the United States has 11 federal holidays, while the United Kingdom has eight.
But the problem for Chinese workers is that they only get five days of statutory paid time off (PTO), or annual leave, a year, far less than in many other countries.
When the economy was good, Chinese companies were more generous with paid leave. But it’s a different story when the economy is slowing down.
Max Teng, a business analyst in the internet industry, told CNN that he previously worked for a foreign company. But the truth is, he said, it wasn’t good.
“If you take a long vacation, everyone will have negative opinions about you. Even if you are offered a vacation, so many people don’t bother to take it,” he said.
There are a few companies that are doing things their own way. Yael Tuerdi, 26, works in the marketing department of Kentucky Fried Chicken, which is operated by fast food giant Yum China (YUMC).
Yum China does not require workers to come to work on the two designated “special working days.”
“I love it,” Tuerdi said. “Vacations can be arranged as you like. If you want to go on a trip, you can take annual leave to fill the gap. Even if you don’t want to travel, he can take two days off on the weekend. ”
There is a growing movement among independent companies to discourage the obsession with excessively long working hours. Among the more prominent supporters is Pan Dong Lai Co., a supermarket chain based in central Henan province known for its customer service.
State media outlet People’s Daily reported that the company’s founder and chairman, Yu Donglai, announced in March that he would give 10 days of annual “grief leave” to employees who don’t feel like working.
“Everyone inevitably gets depressed from time to time. If you can leave this sadness behind, you might feel good again,” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper. Yu added that administrators cannot deny such leave requests.
He is one of the rare advocates of work-life balance in a culture that values ”eating the bitters,” or enduring hardship in order to succeed, and is a frequent speaker at business forums and a preaches the belief of
CNN contacted the supermarket chain to ask about its plans for Labor Day.
As for Mr Teng, he will have to report to work on Saturday, May 11th, as part of the standard leave policy.
“I am very depressed because I have to work at least six days in a row,” he said.
