PR executive at Chinese tech firm Baidu apologizes for comments seen as glorifying overwork
By ZEN SOO
Posted 5/9/24
A top public relations executive from Chinese technology firm Baidu has apologized after she made comments that were seen as glorifying a culture of overwork. Baidu’s head of communications Qu Jing …
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Need to set up your free e-Newspaper all-access account? click here.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
PR executive at Chinese tech firm Baidu apologizes for comments seen as glorifying overwork
FILE - An attendee walks past a display at the Baidu World conference in Beijing, on Nov. 1, 2018. A top public relations executive from Chinese technology firm Baidu apologized Thursday, May 9, 2024, after she made comments in a series of videos that critics said glorified a culture of overwork. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Posted
By ZEN SOO
HONG KONG (AP) — A top public relations executive from Chinese technology firm Baidu apologized Thursday after she made comments in a series of videos that critics said glorified a culture of overwork.
Baidu's head of communications Qu Jing sparked a public outcry in China after she implied in the videos that she was not concerned about her employees as she was “not their mom” and said she only cared about results. She also said that the relationship between her and her subordinates was purely an “employer-employee relationship.”
The backlash was swift, with many on social media platforms like Weibo criticizing Qu for her lack of empathy.
Qu posted an apology Thursday on her private WeChat account, where she “sincerely apologized to all netizens” and clarified that she had not sought Baidu’s permission before posting the videos.
Qu said that her short videos did not represent Baidu’s stance. Baidu operates China’s dominant search engine as well as Ernie Bot, an artificial intelligence service similar to ChatGPT.
“Many of the criticisms are very pertinent, I am reflecting deeply and humbly accept them,” she said. “There are many inappropriate (things said) in the video that caused external misunderstandings about the company’s values and corporate culture, causing serious harm. I sincerely apologize."
Qu also pledged to improve her communication and management style and care more for her colleagues.
Baidu did not immediately comment.
Chinese online media outlet 36Kr reported Thursday that Qu had left her position at Baidu. The Associated Press was not able to independently verify Qu’s departure.
The videos, which have since be taken down, came at a time when many young people in China are pushing back against a culture of competition and grueling hours in the workplace.
Qu received criticism for a range of subjects she mentioned in the series of short videos on Douyin.
In the series, she brought up an incident of certain employees who sent hundreds of complaint letters against her to the office, and threatened to ruin their careers by ensuring that they could never again find a job in the industry.
In one of the videos, she criticized an employee who refused to go on a 50-day business trip during the COVID-19 pandemic. China had implemented strict travel restrictions that at times included weeks of quarantine for travel even within the country.
“Why should I take into consideration my employee’s family? I’m not her mother-in law,” Qu said, adding that if employees refused to go on such business trips then they would not get salary raises or job promotions.
Chinese technology firms have long been criticized for their long working hours.
A public debate was sparked in recent years over the “996” work culture, where employees in technology firms were expected to work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. The issue was also spotlighted after the deaths of two employees of Chinese e-commerce firm Pinduoduo, one of whom collapsed suddenly on the street on her way home from work.
Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, also faced criticism in 2019 for endorsing the 12-hour workday culture, saying that those who enjoyed their work would not find the “996” practice to be a problem.