What is the channel view on Alibaba founder's '996' work week?

We asked channel bosses to wade into the debate caused by Jack Ma's statements advocating a 12-hour, six-day working week

Jack Ma, founder and outgoing chairman of Chinese internet giant Alibaba, caused online outrage this week following comments he made to staff advocating 12-hour work days.

The work practice is called '996' in China, referring to a 9am to 9pm workday, six days a week. It is common in the country's booming tech industry.

In a blog post on Chinese social media, Ma told employees that it is a privilege to work such long hours in the service of clients.

His comments caused a debate to rage among users of Weibo, China's behemoth social media platform, many of whom were concerned about the long-term work-life balance effects of 996.

"Do you think never having to work 996 in your life is an honour to boast about? If you don't put out more time and energy than others, how can you achieve the success you want?" Ma wrote in a post that was translated by The Asia Times.

Stuart Fenton, CEO of Microsoft partner QuantiQ, told CRN that he can see Ma's point, but that it is unfair to enforce 12-hour workdays on employees.

"Most of the successful people I know don't stick to the traditional seven to eight-hour day," he said.

"Whether that is by choice or volume of work - that differs from person to person - but for the most part, it tends to be choice.

"My preference is that the people who want to go the extra mile make the choice and it pays dividends to their career over the long term, but that path is not for everybody."

Fenton added that those who do choose to work long days do so for a period of time; it is not a habit that they continue throughout their career as he says it would lead to burnout.

"You need some degree of balance, or I would say there is a chance of burning out or reduced productivity and efficiency because people are tired," he explained.

"I think the classic eight-hour day is absolutely appropriate for the vast majority of people.

"There are times when people will need to put in longer days because either the business requires it or they want to achieve more in their own careers."

Acronis CEO David McLeman agreed with Fenton's assessment that a strong work-life balance is key to an industrious employee base.

McLeman strongly disagreed with Ma's statement, noting that there were probably some cultural differences at play.

He added that he encourages his staff to take their holiday time in order to stave off the potential ill health or high staff turnover that long hours might create.

"People have to enjoy going to work," he stated.

"We are here to be a digital enabler and innovator to our clients, and we want employees to be creative and come up with exciting ideas, and you don't get that by treating them like battery hens.

"The important thing is you respect the work-life balance of your employees. If you provide flexibility and have an intelligent, motivated group of employees and you don't have hang-ups about their exact working hours, people will do what is necessary to achieve their goals."

After causing a social media storm in China, Ma backtracked somewhat on his comments, insisting that he would not make 996 compulsory for staff, but he did warn prospective Alibaba employees that they should expect to put in those kinds of hours with the company.

"No-one likes working at a company that forces you to do '996'," he wrote.

"Not only is it inhumane, it's unhealthy and even more unsustainable for long periods - plus workers, relatives and the law do not approve of it.

"In the long term, even if you pay a higher salary, employees will all leave."

James Kight, Printerland MD, echoed Weibo users' concerns about a healthy work-life balance.

"A lot of my staff have families and they wouldn't see them. A lot have young children and if they were working those kinds of hours they wouldn't see their children grow up," he noted.

"It depends on the type of business you are in. We don't need 12-hour days with what we do because people won't be ringing up after five o'clock.

"I don't believe I would get the best out of people - there would be no benefits whatsoever."

Both Kight and Fenton stated that the current 40-hour week is the optimal length to get the most productivity out of employees, but both warned about how this is affected by changing work styles.

"We are doing eight-hour weeks, but that's probably not the case because people tend to look at their work emails at home," said Kight.

"It's about trying to get away from that to switch off because email now is quite invasive. I've stopped sending emails out of work hours because I don't want people to reply."

Fenton added that his own opinion of work habits has changed as his career has matured and he has observed how each individual has a work practice that best suits them.

"Earlier in my career, I genuinely believed that everyone should work longer hours," he said.

"As my career has progressed I believe there is a quality and quantity balance. You can have someone do fewer hours and be enormously productive - it's not uniform for every single person."