Will the 996 Work Culture Take Off in the US?

The term “966” originated in China’s high-pressure tech scene, where industry titans saw extended schedules as the secret ingredient to outperforming their competitors.

Alibaba’s co-founder, Jack Ma, once told his employees, “If you don’t put in more time and energy than others, how can you achieve the success you want?”

Richard Liu, founder of Alibaba’s rival JD.com, has a similar work attitude. People who waste their days “are no brothers of mine,” he said. 1

996’s violation of Chinese labor laws

Although many tech leaders promote long working hours, 996 actually violates China’s legally mandated 44-hour workweek. 2 Companies often get away with it because the authorities don’t strictly enforce the law.

This creates a toxic culture where workers feel compelled to conform to the schedule. “Everyone around me was living the same life. I couldn’t accept the fact that others could bear it, but I couldn’t,” a worker who stayed at a 996 job for four years said in a VICE documentary.

The system gained global attention in 2019 when developers on the code-sharing platform GitHub protested by launching the 996.ICU repository, which contains purported evidence of extreme overwork and exploitative labor practices. (The name suggests that working a 996 schedule risks a trip to the Intensive Care Unit.)

996 received more criticism in 2021 following the death of a 22-year-old Chinese worker who collapsed after a midnight shift. 3 While the Chinese state media has started urging employers to dial back the pressure, the grueling culture hasn’t disappeared, according to a Reuters article.

Despite the backlash it created in China, the 996 culture has made its way to the US.

According to data from the financial platform Ramp, corporate credit card transactions for food and beverages in San Francisco in 2025 saw massive spikes on Saturdays, from noon until midnight. This phenomenon suggests an increase in 6-day workweeks in the city.

Interestingly, Ramp didn’t find the same trend in other tech hubs like New York or Austin. It was mostly confined to San Francisco. 4 That doesn’t mean San Francisco is the only city cranking up the heat on work hours, though—just that the trend is most pronounced there.

A 2026 Indeed-commissioned survey found that nearly 40% of US employers expect an increase in 996-style schedules. This is backed by a nearly 38% year-over-year spike in job postings demanding weekend and evening availability in December 2025. 5

Julia Getts, a former editorial manager, noticed in her job hunt earlier this year that many recruiters have baked vague warnings like “schedules may vary” into their job descriptions. 5 She considers this a red flag, saying that these clauses are meant to ensure new hires expect to always be on call. 5

How common is 996 in the US?

For now, reports of a US migration toward a 996 schedule are largely anecdotal. There isn’t enough data to know for sure how many workers are participating in this work mode, but the hype around it is growing, particularly in Silicon Valley.

Daksh Gupta, the 23-year-old co-founder of AI code review tool Greptile, tweeted in late 2024 that he tells job candidates upfront that his company “offers no work-life balance” and that his team typically works 14 hours a day, 6 days a week, sometimes more.

He recently summarized the mindset among young Silicon Valley techies as a hyper-focused, ascetic lifestyle: “No drinking, no drugs, 996, lift heavy, run far, marry early, track sleep, eat steak and eggs.” 6

Similarly, Alex Reibman, co-founder of tech startup Agency, told The San Francisco Standard that the expectation at his company is, “Work hard. Do not play hard.”

These statements suggest that in the US’s tech and startup subculture, the expectation to grind is no longer just an unwritten rule for ambitious entrepreneurs. It’s becoming a requirement for many other people, even rank-and-file workers.

“The Valley has always had this California casual exterior and this workaholic interior,” historian Margaret O’Mara said in an interview with NPR. “But [the latest 996 craze] is something that is a change in vibe, so to speak, from a few years ago.”

The competitive AI race

The explosive AI boom is arguably the main motivator behind the adoption of 996 in Silicon Valley, a Business Insider reporter wrote. Companies are scared of falling behind, and many believe that long hours are the key to getting ahead.

“We have so many companies that are building pretty much the same products in AI; their only leverage is how fast they’re growing, how fast they’re building,” Nicole Levin, platform lead at the venture capital firm Pebblebed, told the South China Morning Post.

She compared the current situation to the internet boom of the 1990s, when Silicon Valley companies scrambled to stake their claims before the speculative bubble burst. 7

Sebastian Raschka, an AI research lab founder, said that the pressure that comes with innovating at breakneck speed is intense. To make a true impact in the hyper-speed AI landscape means “you have to deliver constantly,” he said. 8

A loose tech market

O’Mara said that tech leaders are able to get away with adopting the 996 schedule for their companies because the competition for talent isn’t as fierce as it was 5–6 years ago. 9

Particularly with the waves of mass layoffs that kicked off in early 2026, employers have the upper hand. 10 11 Workers are now more likely to push through intense schedules just to keep their jobs. 9

Former Google software engineer manager Rachel Grey noticed the shift during her later years at the company. She said that benefits like Christmas bonuses shrank, corporate information became less transparent, and the fear and anxiety in the company went “way up.” 12

After nearly 18 years at Google, the 48-year-old eventually resigned from her former dream job in early 2025. 12

Beneath all of this is the fear of being replaced by AI, which executives openly admit is making some roles redundant. 9 12 O’Mara said she believes that tech workers, particularly coders, need to prove their worth more than they used to, which may lead some of them to work grueling hours.

Advocates for the 996 schedule, which some critics have called “modern slavery,” see it through a radically different lens. They believe it’s a privilege to pour time and effort into something that they’re not only passionate about, but also has a huge financial upside. 13

Being willing to put in such long hours means “you’ve found something you genuinely care about,” and you get the chance to make big money, 21-year-old startup founder Justin Lee told PC Magazine.

There may be some truth to this. In high-stakes, mission-driven fields—and in Silicon Valley, AI is one of those—workers are often fueled by what Indeed talent strategy advisor Kyle M.K. calls a “hot fire within.” 5 They willingly trade comfort for equity and rapid advancement, believing that innovation requires an obsession that a standard 40-hour week simply doesn’t allow for.

The downsides of a 996 schedule for workers can also be severe.

The physical and emotional costs of 996

A joint study by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) found that working over 55 hours a week increases your risk of stroke and ischemic heart disease (which can lead to a heart attack). 14

Those aren’t the only health effects of overworking. According to the Cleveland Clinic, having an unhealthy work-life balance can also lead to mental health issues, a weakened immune system, brain fog, and sleep disorders.  15

“Stress is not a badge of honor, and it’s not fuel,” stress expert Dr. Daniela Kaufer said. 13

The social costs of 996

Some industry veterans also think 996 is performative. Hoop.dev founder Andrios Robert recalled pulling long hours only to realize that his brain “just stops working” after eight hours. He found himself much of his day staring blankly at a screen while his personal relationships suffered. 13

The glorification of a nonstop working lifestyle is also a demographic filter, according to O’Mara.  9 It excludes workers with caregiving and other obligations and reinforces Silicon Valley’s existing demographic homogeneity.

In other words, the population willing to put up with 996 “skews young” and “skews male,” she said. 9

Lorikeet co-founder Steve Hind agrees. He thinks that mandating those long hours is essentially a legal loophole that enables employment discrimination. 13

“You’re basically saying that parents can’t work at your company,” he said, and are probably disproportionately discouraging women, who often carry a heavier caregiving load at home. 13

Although some leaders have shown interest in 996, a rigid, top-down 72-hour workweek is unlikely to become the new norm across mainstream corporate America in the foreseeable future.

In fact, many professionals are trying alternative, flexible work styles, such as microshifting (where they work in short, non-linear bursts throughout the day), which allows them to make the workweek fit around their life, not the other way around.

However, in certain highly competitive fields—corporate law and finance are two other frequently cited examples—very long hours have been the norm for decades, and in the tech hub of Silicon Valley, software development and AI may be joining their ranks.