Take China's ‘996’ practice. It's one that Chinese billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma actively endorses. ‘I personally think that 996 is a huge blessing,’ posted Ma on Alibaba's WeChat account. ‘How do you achieve the success you want without paying extra effort and time?’ 2020, Noreena Hertz, chapter 7, in The Lonely Century, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN:
“I’d heard about 996, but these guys don’t even do 996,” he says. “They’re working 16-hour days.” 2026 February 17, Arielle Pardes, quoting unnamed startup employee, “12-hour days, no weekends: the anxiety driving AI’s brutal work culture is a warning for all of us”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 17 Feb 2026: