What an interesting brief on this social tragedy!

I can appreciate the impact this has on people's lives because in actual fact, the conditions in China are very similar. It was only a few years ago that Apple made news headlines with considerable pressure on increasing their work conditions and remuneration to employees at their assembly lines in China following the suicide of not one but several employees within the tightly controlled work-village.

To say that there is a notion of 9-5 in China is like saying work begins and ends when you clock in and clock out. Of course, that's not the case at all because the social default in China is to be essentially on call 24/7. You are expected to show your commitment to the company and your boss by taking on any number of tasks regardless of the time it takes to complete them, or when they are issued to you. Whether that's during "work hours" or not is irrelevant. Employees are expected to put in the hours to complete their tasks regardless of the time, and what saddens me is that the tasks always seem to be insurmountable.

Many of my friends who have freshly graduated are now struggling with this reality and are seeking work outside of China for these exact reasons. I don't blame them. Until the working culture in China changes, I can see more of this Japanese phenomenon happening in China and affecting the productivity of the nation as a whole.

Sometimes, allowing for real time off at the expense of absolute productivity is a necessity to allow for better mileage in the long term. Let's not also forget it preserves our sanity!