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The head of public relations at Chinese search big Baidu has created her personal PR disaster after posting a number of movies on social media demeaning employees, within the newest instance of the typically brutal office practices in China’s tech sector.
“I can make you jobless in this industry,” stated Baidu vice-president Qu Jing in a single video. She added she wanted staff devoted sufficient to do 50 straight days of enterprise journey at her aspect and did not care if it affected their private lives. “I’m not your mum,” she stated. “I only care about results.”
Qu additionally stated she was so dedicated to Baidu that she was unaware of her son’s class 12 months in school.
The executive posted the movies on Douyin, the Chinese model of TikTok, intending the clips to function examples to her crew of methods to use social media to advertise Baidu. Instead, they’ve reignited criticism of the office tradition at Chinese tech corporations.
“Employees will never feel at home at a company that doesn’t have even a little bit of warmth,” wrote one consumer on the social media platform Weibo, on which Qu’s feedback are trending.
As of Thursday, the dialogue had drawn 150mn views and a former worker stated Qu was not with the corporate, echoing reporting in Chinese media shops. Baidu did not instantly reply to a request for remark.
“She wanted to create an ‘iron lady’ image, but the context has changed,” stated unbiased tech columnist Wang Qingrui. “Now folks don’t agree with the logic of these in energy.
“She is not solely representing herself within the movies, but in addition Baidu’s tradition and values,” he added. “This deepens Baidu’s image problems.”
Qu’s feedback have additionally revived considerations over working circumstances. The lengthy hours typically anticipated of tech staff are generally known as “996” — that means they begin work at 9am, depart at 9pm and work six days per week.
While there was some enchancment after Beijing cracked down on the nation’s tech giants in 2021, Qu indicated she nonetheless demanded lengthy hours from her employees. In one video, she stated PR staff wanted to be out there 24 hours a day and will by no means go on vacation.
Many staff within the business have reported the current tech sector slowdown and large-scale job cuts had revived prolonged hours amid intense competitors. In different cases of powerful practices, PDD Holdings has tracked and sued former staff who violate non-compete agreements, whereas social media group Kuaishou has begun to push out employees above the age of 35.
Baidu has been struggling to reinvent itself as its search advert enterprise has stalled and bets on different enterprise traces have come up quick. The group has lately gone all in on synthetic intelligence, vying to be China’s reply to OpenAI.
By Thursday, Qu had eliminated the movies from her Douyin account and apologised, saying she had “earnestly read peoples’ opinions and criticisms” and would “deeply reflect” on them.
“I sincerely apologise that my videos have caused external misunderstandings about Baidu’s values and culture,” she wrote on social media.
Amid the controversy, one other video unfold on Chinese social media exhibiting Qu coping with a adverse article from the South China Morning Post newspaper.
The clip reveals a paper doll hung up in Baidu’s workplaces with 4 crimson knives pointed at “SCMP” written throughout its chest. Qu is seen whipping the doll with a rope.