[CC may contain inaccuracies] Social media.
This one has really been getting a lot of traction, so you guys might have
heard about it. So what's been taking place with Baidu
and the media relations story that's taking place because of the media
relations chief was said to have resigned, I believe, on Thursday, which
was yesterday posting a string of videos endorsing.
And this is really a debate around work culture and the balance between, of
course, work and your non-work life and certainly making light of stars
well-being and the commentary coming through in the commentary, coming to
because of what she said to hear. Let's get more on this story.
And in case you haven't heard about it, Rebecca Chin Wilson is here with us to
talk us through this. Yeah.
So let's maybe back up a little bit. Give us give us give us the background
here. Well, the context here is that there has
been a big debate for several years now about the sort of toxic work cultures
that happen in a lot of tech companies, start ups, this sort of so-called 1996
culture, working 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week.
And there were all these sort of stories, even from friends of mine,
about, you know, leaving your suit jacket on the back of your chair when
you leave to kind of give the appearance that you're still there, even though you
might have vacated the building, you know, all these kind of tips and tricks.
But over the years, there's been a lot of criticism over this sort of potential
toxicity of that type of environment. And what you have here now with this
Baidu PR chief really seems to have touched a nerve.
But there's also a different element, which I think is sort of slightly
distinct from the past, which is that in some ways this is a misread of the
context that we're in now, which is with a slowing economy, with tech companies
cutting tens of thousands of jobs back since 2020 to pay salaries being
slashed, benefits being slashed is such a sense of job insecurity.
We have youth unemployment around 50%. This is a very different context in a
very different time. And during these moments, sort of
economic decline. You know, the those with wealth, those
with power, they scrutinize in a different way.
And these messages that are sent are looked at and perceived with a much sort
of sharper lens. Yeah.
I just want to quote some of the things that came out of these videos, because
this is according to what we heard. Right.
Some of these remarks from the head of VP at Baidu or the former.
Now, I guess according to some reports, why should I take an employee's family
into consideration? I am not their mother in law.
If you work in public relations, expect no weekends off.
Keep your phone on 24 hours a day. I never talk to you about what you have
to make 50 straight days of business travel.
She mentioned something like that. My favorite line out of all this and she
said, I'm not your mom. I'm just here for results.
I just want to see if it's all right. Oh, man.
There is one more line as well. I said, Do you know what grade your
son is in? Yes.
She's forgotten her elder son's birthday.
Yes. As if you were.
Yeah. You shouldn't know what grade your
children are in as a working mom. Gosh, I just have to say, that's no
comment. But you should know those things at
least.
