As the phones glow from the side of their bed at midnight, the weary white collar worker groan as they respond to a message from a work group on WeChat, a popular messaging application. Office workers are complaining that the ubiquity of such messages has blurred the lines between work and private life.
Most people are used to regularly checking their cellphones for work purposes, whether to keep in touch with colleagues or look for new opportunities. But these handy social platforms also transform the eight-hour workday into a 24-hour one.
According to Youth Times, opponents of the spread of work onto apps said Wechat and other social platforms have a great impact on their work efficiency, and they had to work overtime. Despite this, supporters noted WeChat could help them save lots of time and they could easily contact their colleagues to answer questions. Some maintained a more neutral attitude, arguing that striking a work-life balance was a difficult talk in any era.
Xinhuanet, part of Xinhua News Agency, suggested how to lighten the effect of Wechat and other social media, saying that an occasional phone call was more meaningful than sending lots of messages on WeChat, and workers should set a fixed time to check information on social media. Last year Tencent, developer of Wechat, launched a new application directed at workplace groups, in order to let staff ignore messages while resting.