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Word file #017RisingNumber slang

What does 996 mean?

九九六jiǔ jiǔ liù

Say itnine-nine-SIXnoun (also an adjective and, loosely, a verb)

Character by character
  1. 九jiǔnine: start at 9 am
  2. 九jiǔnine: stop at 9 pm
  3. 六liùsix: days a week

A work schedule of 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week, linked with Chinese tech companies, and by extension any culture of extremely long working hours.

Written by the Second Language TeamWritten

996 is a work schedule: from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. That is 12 hours a day and 72 hours a week. The schedule is said to be common at China’s big technology companies and start-ups [1]. English speakers meet the word mostly in news about China’s tech industry. It became much better known in 2019, when Alibaba founder Jack Ma called 996 “a huge blessing” [1] and many people on Chinese social media criticized him. People also use it more loosely for any workplace where very long overtime is normal.

In English, people read the digits one by one: nine-nine-SIX. In Mandarin it is 九九六 jiǔ jiǔ liù. The characters are the same in simplified and traditional Chinese, but people almost always write the numerals 996. Jiǔ has a low, dipping third tone and liù has a falling fourth tone. In normal speech, the first jiǔ changes to a rising tone, because two third tones in a row do that. So it sounds like jiú jiǔ liù, roughly “jyoh-jyoh-lyoh.” The full Chinese term is 996工作制 jiǔjiǔliù gōngzuò zhì, “996 work system.” 996 is not a rude word, but it is rarely neutral. People say it to complain, often with a tired joke.

Word stats

Known in English
People who follow tech news or news about China know it. Most other English speakers would guess it is a price or a room number.
Said in China today
Chinese speakers use 996 all the time in the same sense, even as a verb: “I don’t want to 996 anymore.”
Polite
Not a rude word at all, but it is almost always a complaint. Calling a company 996 criticizes the company.
Freshness
More people look it up every year. Long working hours never stay out of the news for long.

Spotted in the wild

Group chat · Sunday, 8:40 pm
  1. Priyagot the start-up offer!! pay is great but the recruiter said the team is “kind of 996” during launches
  2. Youso 9 to 9, six days a week? that’s not “kind of”, that’s exactly 996
  3. Marcuscongrats though. we’ll see you on your one day off 😅

What it means here: 996 means the 9 am to 9 pm, six-day schedule, and the friends treat it as a warning sign.

Comments under a video about China’s tech jobs
  1. Alexwait what does 996 mean
  2. Mei9am to 9pm, 6 days a week. 72 hours. it’s a complaint, not a perk
  3. Jordanand apparently 007 is a thing now too
  4. Alex007 sounds like a spy movie, not a work schedule

What it means here: Mei explains 996 as the long-hours schedule, and 007 is the even worse version: all day, every day.

Text with Mom · Friday, 10:15 pm
  1. Momlin just called. she said 我不想再996了
  2. Youhonestly fair. she’s been working till 9 every night since spring
  3. Momi told her to come home for a real weekend
  4. Youa weekend? she’ll need to look that word up

What it means here: Lin’s message, 我不想再996了 (wǒ bù xiǎng zài jiǔjiǔliù le), means “I don’t want to do 996 anymore”; in Chinese, 996 can work like a verb.

How to use it

  • work 996Her team works 996 for two months before every big launch.
  • a 996 schedule / 996 cultureHe left the job because of its 996 culture.
  • be 996 (describing a company)Is that start-up 996, or do they actually let you go home?
  • go 996 (start working that schedule)The whole office went 996 after the new manager arrived.

Don’t say it like this

  • Sounds offI worked 996 hours this week.

    Say thisI worked 996 this week. / I worked a 72-hour week.

    996 is the name of a schedule, not a number of hours.

  • Sounds off“nine hundred ninety-six”

    Say this“nine-nine-six” (jiǔ jiǔ liù in Mandarin)

    Each digit stands for part of the schedule, so you read them one by one, in English and in Chinese.

  • Sounds offYou’re so 996! (meant as praise)

    Say thisYou work so hard!

    996 is usually a complaint about a bad workplace, so it sounds like pity or criticism, not a compliment.

  • Sounds offChina passed a law banning 996 in 2021.

    Say thisIn 2021, China’s top court and labor ministry said 996 is illegal.

    No new law was passed; the 2021 cases explained that the schedule already broke existing labor law.

996 or not?

Is each of these 996? Pick an answer to find out.

  1. A tech worker starts at 9 am and leaves at 9 pm, Monday to Saturday, every week.

  2. A nurse works three 12-hour shifts a week.

  3. A start-up expects everyone in the office from 9 in the morning to 9 at night, Sunday off.

  4. An office worker works 9 to 5 on weekdays and answers one email on Saturday.

The 996 family

  • 007Working 24 hours a day, seven days a week: the even worse version of 996.Named like a spy, scheduled like a robot.
  • 内卷 nèijuǎn“Involution”: endless competition where everyone works harder but nobody gets ahead.If 内卷 is the feeling, 996 is what it looks like on a calendar.
  • 躺平 tǎngpíng“Lying flat”: choosing to do only the minimum instead of competing harder.The opposite answer to 996: just lie down.

Where it came from

  1. March 2019Tech workers start a GitHub group called 996.ICU to share their work schedules and ask for better working conditions [3]. The word itself was already used among Chinese tech workers before this.
  2. April 2019Alibaba posts Jack Ma’s remarks to staff on its Weibo account. He says he personally thinks 996 is “a huge blessing.” He later writes, “If we find things we like, 996 is not a problem” [1]. The news coverage carries the word into English.
  3. August 2021China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Supreme People’s Court jointly publish real-life cases that clarify the rules on working hours and overtime pay. News reports say the 996 schedule is illegal [2].
  4. TodayPeople say 996 with despair, not pride, and it has led to other number words like 007 [3].

996 in English vs. 996 in Chinese

The meaning is the same in both languages. The difference is in how much work the word does.

PointEnglish 996Chinese 996
MeaningThe 9-to-9, six-day schedule, mostly at Chinese tech companiesThe same schedule, plus any job with endless overtime
GrammarMostly before a noun: 996 culture, a 996 scheduleNoun, adjective, and verb: 我不想996了 “I don’t want to do 996 anymore”
FeelingCritical; it describes a problem in ChinaBitter, tired, or joking
Word playRare996.ICU, 007, and more
Where you meet itNews and business articlesOffice chats, social media, news

The best-known word play is 996.ICU, the name of the 2019 protest on GitHub. It is written like a web address, and ICU is the hospital’s intensive care unit. The idea is “work by 996, sick in ICU”: follow the schedule long enough and you end up in the hospital. By 2016, people said 996 with despair rather than pride, and it had led to new number words such as 007, meaning work 24 hours a day, seven days a week [3].

Is 996 legal? Chinese labor law already limited working hours and overtime, so the schedule broke the rules on paper. In August 2021, China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Supreme People’s Court jointly published a set of real-life cases to make the rules on working hours and overtime pay clear. News reports said this meant 996 is illegal [2]. In one case, the court said a tech company broke the law by making staff sign standard terms that gave up their overtime pay [2]. The cases explained the existing law. They were not a new law, so “China banned 996 in 2021” is not quite accurate.

Sources

  1. Jack Ma endorses China's controversial '996' work cultureCNN Business, 2019-04-15
  2. China's Top Court Says Grueling '996' Work Schedule IllegalSixth Tone, 2021-08-27
  3. China's work culture terms explained, from 996 to lie flatRest of World, 2023

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