Baidu Executive That Bragged of Pitiless Management Style Leaves After Backlash

Qu Jing, a vice president and head of communications at Baidu Inc., has left the company following backlash over her promotion of a harsh workplace culture. In videos posted on Douyin, she described her management style as uncompromising, focusing solely on results and not on the personal wellbeing of her subordinates outside work hours [para. 1][para. 2][para. 3]. Qu's remarks included threats against employees who questioned her methods and personal admissions such as forgetting her son’s birthday due to her work commitments [para. 4][para. 5].

These comments have sparked renewed public debate about the intense working conditions prevalent in some Chinese tech companies, often referred to as "996" culture. This term denotes the expectation for employees to work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week [para. 6]. Despite legal warnings against such practices by China’s top judicial authority and labor agency in 2021, demanding work schedules continue to be reported within major Chinese firms [para. 8].

Baidu responded to the controversy by addressing these workplace issues publicly through a speech by their head of human resources, acknowledging problems like territorial behavior among managers and excessive overtime [para. 7]. The ongoing public scrutiny over work-life balance in China's tech industry was highlighted earlier when high-profile executives from JD.com and Alibaba endorsed the 996 culture in 2019, which led to significant criticism given its conflict with China’s labor laws [para. 8].

Following the uproar caused by her statements, Qu issued an apology via WeChat. She expressed regret for causing misunderstandings about Baidu’s corporate values and acknowledged that her actions were not approved by Baidu nor representative of its corporate stance [para. 9][para. 10]. Before joining Baidu in 2021 from Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Qu had worked as a reporter at Xinhua News Agency after graduating from China Foreign Affairs University. Her career shift into public relations was marked by an adherence to intense work cultures similar to those she promoted at Baidu [para. 11].

Additionally, it was revealed that part of Qu’s PR strategy for 2024 involved encouraging all members of her department at Baidu to establish personal accounts on short video platforms to enhance Baidu’s online presence [para. 12]. This incident underscores ongoing issues within corporate cultures that highly value productivity often at the expense of employee welfare.