The role of the state in influencing work conditions in China's internet industry: Policy, evidence, and implications for industrial relations

Abstract

While there is growing scholarly interest in work conditions in China's internet industry, many studies have focused exclusively on corporate employment relations strategies. By contrast, the article demonstrates the Chinese government's significant role in shaping the collective work experience in business reality. Drawing on three months of fieldwork in China, the findings suggest that the state's quest for technology supremacy has resulted in internet companies that compete ferociously, which in turn causes extreme working hours and burnout. The censorship of online labour activism and the ambiguity in court decisions also lower the interest of tech workers in organising and defending their labour rights. This study opens up an evidence-based debate on industrial relations in contemporary China and calls for more discussions on the state's role in shaping worker well-being and protection.

“When nobody listens, go online”: The “807” labor movement against workplace sexism in China's tech industry

“…While online petitions do not require participants to reveal their true identities, the reality is that Internet service providers and social media platforms in China require all users to register their accounts with real identification, which makes self-given social media pseudonyms traceable. As a result, some workers choose not to participate in labor activist events and others choose not to discuss the activism online (Liu, 2022b); both elements reduce the impact of labor activism.…”

“…Wright (2018, p: 390-392) also notes that ACFTU branches in private enterprise are viewed by workers as ineffective and illegitimate representatives. In addition, as shown by Liu (2022b), Unions in China are often associated with helping the economic and socially marginalized communities. Tech workers are not members of the organization nor are they members of the communities the organization is most interested in serving.…”

“…Perhaps Alibaba workers lack consciousness of their labor rights, but it is more likely that they are pessimistic that unionism can contribute to improved industrial relations in China's Internet industry. [Correction added on 12 May, 2022, after first online publication: Citation Liu (2022b) has been included in this version. ]…”

Where is the limit for overtime? Impacts of overtime on employees’ mental health and potential solutions: A qualitative study in China

“…Employees who have high sense of responsibility or are imposed on with increased responsibility usually work overtime. Some employees love their company and their jobs, and their sense of passion inspires them to work more ( Liu, 2022 ). Motivations for overtime work are complicated.…”

“…Additionally, the development speed of the IT industry is relatively fast, and companies in the industry often need to race against time to meet their targets. The speed of hot spot switching in the industry is relatively fast, and users have higher demands in terms of their experience of internet products, which will prompt IT enterprises to speed up work pace to cope with constant changes in the market and the fast product development cycle ( Hang, 2021 ; Liu, 2022 ). The first aim of this qualitative study is to identify reasons for overtime work in the Chinese IT industry.…”