ByteDance worker dies after collapsing at gym, again raising 996 discussion on Chinese social media

The employee in his late 20s died after an hour-long workout at a company gym, according to an internal memo from the TikTok owner

No cause of death has been given, but news of tech workers’ deaths has raised public scrutiny of the pressures in the industry

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ByteDance has become the latest company to be caught up in public debate about the technology industry’s demanding work culture following the collapse of a young employee. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 4:00pm, 23 Feb 2022Updated: 5:53pm, 23 Feb 2022

A young ByteDance employee in his late 20s died Wednesday afternoon, according to two internal company memos seen by the South China Morning Post, which said the person collapsed after a workout at a company gym.

The company, China’s most valuable unicorn and the owner of short video platform TikTok, confirmed the authenticity of the documents but did not offer details about the incident.

“We’re extremely saddened by the passing of our colleague and extend our deepest condolences to our colleague’s family and friends,” a ByteDance representative said. “We will do our utmost to support our colleague’s family.”

No reason has been given for the employee’s death, but it has again drawn attention to the pressures that technology workers face in China.

The ByteDance worker, surnamed Wu, started to feel dizzy at around 7pm on Monday after an hour-long workout, according to the first memo sent out on Wednesday morning. He told a coach at the gym that he might be feeling the symptoms of low blood sugar, so he was given a glass of sweetened water. Two security guards certified in first aid were called for help, and Wu was sent to a hospital within half an hour, the memo said.

The second memo sent Wednesday afternoon said Wu passed away at 1:43pm, 41 hours after he was sent to the hospital.

Before his death, Wu’s profile on Feishu, ByteDance’s office collaboration software called Lark in English, was changed by a user who identified herself as the employee’s wife. Wu is “gone forever”, she wrote on the profile.

ByteDance worker dies after collapsing at gym, again raising 996 discussion on Chinese social media

The employee in his late 20s died after an hour-long workout at a company gym, according to an internal memo from the TikTok owner No cause of death has been given, but news of tech workers’ deaths has raised public scrutiny of the pressures in the industry

The employee in his late 20s died after an hour-long workout at a company gym, according to an internal memo from the TikTok owner

No cause of death has been given, but news of tech workers’ deaths has raised public scrutiny of the pressures in the industry