Xiaomi accused of forcing employees to work 11.5 hours a day until exhausted

Xiaomi has been accused of requiring employees to work an average of 11.5 hours a day, as the Chinese government steps up its crackdown on overwork.

Xiaomi faces criticism for forcing employees to work at least 11.5 hours/day - Photo: REUTERS

According to a report by Jiu Pai News on April 24, a user on the Maimai platform - a professional social network that allows users to anonymously share about jobs in China - posted an article saying that Xiaomi requires all employees to work at least 11.5 hours a day.

As shared by this employee, those who work less than 8 hours will have to submit an explanation, while employees in the group with the lowest total working time will be called in for a discussion by their direct manager, or even "advised to quit".

Xiaomi has not yet commented on this incident.

Overtime to compensate for time off

The information quickly attracted attention and became the top keyword on Weibo's hot search list on April 24. Many Xiaomi employees later confirmed the same situation to Jiu Pai News.

Accordingly, an employee working at Xiaomi's Shanghai branch said his department requires an average of 11.5 hours of work per day, with a schedule starting from 9am to 8:30pm.

Meanwhile, another employee from Xiaomi's smartphone division revealed to Jiu Pai News that some groups had to work 12.5 hours a day, the lowest group had to work 10.5 hours, and some groups even had to work 14-15 hours.

"The leader only gave verbal instructions, leaving no traces behind," the person told Jiu Pai News.

Another Xiaomi employee in Beijing said he was asked to write a report and warned if he continued to work less than 10.5 hours.

Meanwhile, a Xiaomi employee in Jiangsu said that despite working an average of 12 hours a day, he was still called in by his manager for personal work because of his "low ranking".

In addition, this person shared that taking leave will also affect the average working time per day. Just taking one day off per month will reduce the average working time per day to less than 8 hours, at which point they will be forced to work overtime to compensate.

According to Jiu Pai News, the policy of checking working hours at Xiaomi has been applied for about 2 years, many employees do not know why it has only recently caused controversy on social networks.

China promotes labor balance

The news comes as China steps up efforts to clamp down on corporate overwork.

China's Government Work Report 2025 calls for comprehensively addressing the issue of "exhaustive internal competition," which refers to the phenomenon of exhausting employees without bringing about substantial development.

On March 1, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced an action plan to address issues such as overtime culture in the country.

The plan required businesses to strictly comply with regulations on working hours and implement a paid leave system for employees. After that, many businesses began to adjust their labor policies in a more positive direction.

Social media platform RedNote has announced it will end its long-short workweek system - a rotating work schedule in which employees work five days one week and six days the next.

However, because they can receive double the overtime pay, many RedNote employees have complained on social media that this will affect their income, according to Lianhe Zaobao (Singapore).

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/xiaomi-bi-to-ep-nhan-vien-lam-11-5-tieng-ngay-den-kiet-que-20250425165438592.htm