CHINA TOPIX

03/29/2024 08:41:17 am

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Chinese Tech Company Allows Employees to Sleep at Work: Reports

Chinese tech companies allow rest time for employees.

(Photo : Getty Images) Chinese tech companies allow rest time for employees.

While many companies strictly implement a "no sleeping" policy at the workplace, sine tech firms in China are doing otherwise.

Dai Xiang, founder of the cloud computing firm BaishanCloud, makes sure that his employees have a secluded corner installed with bunk beds for sleeping, explaining that technology-related work requires intensive brain activity and inspiration. Not only that, these resting areas can be used not only at night but also during midday.

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Even though sleeping during work hours has long been a problem in China, the country's technology sector is quite distinct, as business moves way faster than hiring new personnel. For this reason, highly skilled workers of start-up tech firms have to burn the midnight oil just to meet deadlines.

"The pace of Chinese internet company growth is extremely fast," Cui Meng, Goopal's general manager and co-founder, said. "I've been to the U.S. and the competitive environment there isn't as intense as in China."

According to Dai, hired programmers are obliged to work overtime each day. To sustain the bulk of the day's load, his company allows employees to take a nap around lunchtime and after 9 PM in whatever positions they are most comfortable with.

While Dai's firm simply grants nap time on bunk beds, other companies are going to the extent of converting their offices into a home.

For instance, Liu Zhanyu from the human resource platform DouMiYouPin, prefers to convert his conference room into a sleeping place instead of enduring the hour-long daily commute to a suburb in Beijing.

Xiang Shiyang, another programmer at Renren Credit Management, stays between 3 and 4 AM at least twice a week.

Even if these sacrifices come with a huge pay-off, is has a social cost and puts family time at stake. "My kid misses me... That makes me feel a bit guilty," Liu said.

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