No more fake smiles: Can a Chinese company reduce stress with masks?
-
Shontee Pant Staff writer
If you walked around some companies in Handan, in the聽Hebei province of Northern China, on Tuesday, you鈥檇 have been confronted by a sea of employees all wearing white masks. Some of the employees wore the 鈥淕uy Fawkes鈥� masks also used by hacking group 鈥淎nonymous,鈥� while others sported the robotic white covers worn by the character 鈥淣o-Face鈥� in the 2001 Japanese film, "."
The companies allow workers to have a monthly relaxation day, in order to 鈥渞educe pressure during working time,鈥� . This includes the face mask day, which is intended to let employees indulge in genuine though unseen facial expressions throughout the day. Even workers required to smile at customers on other days of the year are allowed to make whatever faces they like on face mask day.
Concerns about stress in the Chinese workplace 鈥� particularly for white-collar workers 鈥� have been on the rise. Many Chinese workers struggle with work-life balance, according to a .
鈥淲e have noticed that ,鈥� wrote Tim De Meyer, the director of the International Labour Organization鈥檚 China office,聽in an e-mail. 鈥淚t is worrying as a physical and mental-health hazard.鈥� The Chinese legal limit for overtime is two hours per day, but in a Beijing survey conducted by Mr. De Meyer, of respondents admitted they worked more than two hours per day overtime.聽
It is estimated that聽聽die from work-related stress and related effects a year in China. The concept of "death by overwork,鈥澛爄s known in China as聽 In nearby Japan, the legal term is聽"karoshi, which became legally recognized in the 1980s. Incidents such as the , a director in聽China's Banking Regulatory Commission,聽who literally worked himself to death and passed on while attempting to finish a report in the early morning, have brought worldwide attention to the issue.
鈥淚n China, there鈥檚 still the belief that you do things for the development of the good of the nation, for development of the economy, to forget your own self,鈥� . 鈥淏ut don鈥檛 forget, overwork also causes harm to the nation and to the family.鈥�
"As China marches its way toward unparalleled economic prominence on the world stage, many issues will stand in its way, including ... an increasingly beleaguered workforce," notes an article, titled on The Diplomat website. Face mask day seems unlikely to do much to restore China's work-life balance, but perhaps any measure intended to increase worker comfort is a small step in the right direction.
