Comment by discordance
7 years ago
I collaborated on a project with developers at QQ a few years back and here are a couple of anecdotes:
1. A 32 year old (!) developer I was working with one-on-one from QQ had a heart attack two weeks before, but was pressured (while in hospital) to come back to work as soon as possible. 2. At the QQ office, I watched an entire group (50+ developers) have a nap heads down at their desk after lunch.
If any developers from China are listening in. Leave your company, take your colleagues and start one with better conditions. You are some of best engineers I've worked with and deserve better.
That heart attack incident is terrible. The nap part, however, is not particularly concerning. Nap after lunch is encouraged in the Chinese culture, and schools have a dedicated “noon nap” slot. Your Chinese coworkers likely nap not because they are so tired they have to, but because they and everyone else have done it their whole lives (and why not, napping feels good).
> Your Chinese coworkers likely nap not because they are so tired they have to, but because they and everyone else have done it their whole lives (and why not, napping feels good).
...unless institutionalized scheduled napping was established to extact just a tad more of energy from overworked servants.
Just saying.
It could be a custom. However, as a Chinese, my feeling is that the custom arises from the de facto 69x (x could be 5, 6 or 7) schedule of Chinese high schools, which is even harsher than that of Chinese companies.
> Leave your company, take your colleagues and start one with better conditions.
That company would last a month in China's gladiatorial business environment. It's not individual companies whimsically deciding to abuse the workers. It's the general intensities of the Chinese market (where you can't just invent something, file a patent and rest and count cash).
Taking naps during lunchtime is very common in Chinese offices
A Chinese friend once had a wisdom tooth taken out and was back in the office that afternoon.
nap heads is normal