📚 Complete Sources & Citations

Ruling establishing that 996 work schedule "seriously violated the provisions of the law" and confirming workers' rights to rest and vacation.

Landmark case where delivery worker awarded compensation for refusing illegal 996 schedule after being fired.

China Briefing (September 2021) - Comprehensive analysis of the legal ruling and Chinese labor law framework.

WebProNews (October 27, 2025) - Report on approximately 25% of AI startups implementing 996 schedules, including data from Ramp on weekend corporate spending.

Fortune (August 19, 2025) - Analysis of 996 adoption in Silicon Valley AI sector.

36kr (2025) - Coverage of Fella and Delilah incentive structure for 996 opt-in.

Direct job posting stating "If you're not interested in working more than 70 hours a week, this job isn't for you." Reported in Wired (July 2025).

Wired (July 2025) - "It's becoming increasingly common. We have multiple clients where a prerequisite for screening candidates is whether they are prepared to work 996."

"7 days a week is the required velocity to win right now" - viral post advocating for 007 work schedule.

CNBC (July 8, 2025) - Full interview with Harry Stebbings, founder of 20VC ($650M fund). Key quotes:

• "If you want to build a $100 million company, you can do it on five days a week. But if you want to build a $10 billion company, you have to work seven days a week."
• "When you go to the Valley now, and when you go to China now, they are working seven days a week in the fastest-growing companies."
• "The truth is, China's really doing '007' now—midnight to midnight, seven days a week."

Multiple confirmation sources (July-August 2025).

Federal law establishing executive, administrative, and professional exemptions from overtime requirements.

Lore Law Firm (October 2025) - Current federal overtime exemption threshold: $684/week ($35,568 annually) following November 2024 court ruling.

Quarles Law Firm (November 2024) - Analysis of court ruling blocking DOL overtime threshold increase.

The Lore Law Firm (July 2025) - California computer professional exemption: $118,657.43 annually ($56.97/hour) as of January 1, 2025.

Fast Company (October 24, 2025) - Comprehensive tracker showing 500,000+ tech workers laid off 2022-2024. October 2025 layoffs include Rivian (4.5%), Meta, Paycom, NBC News.

Google: 12,000 | Meta: 21,000 | Amazon: 27,000 (2022-2024 period). Reported across multiple sources including TechCrunch, The Verge, CNBC.

PBS News Weekend (August 11, 2025) - Recent college graduate unemployment: 5.8% as of March 2025 (highest since 2021), compared to overall 4.2% unemployment.

Wall Street Journal (June 2025) - Underemployment rate: 41.2% (March 2025). Employer hiring plans dropped from +7.3% to +0.6% between fall 2024 and April 2025.

Business Insider (June 2025) - Big Tech reduced new graduate hiring by 25% (2024 vs 2023). Share of hires with little experience at large-cap tech down 50%+ (2019-2024).

BBC Worklife (May 2025) - Startup new grad hiring down 47% (2019-2024). Internship postings down 11 percentage points from 2024. Average May-June 2025 hiring rate: 44% lower than 2022, 16% down from 2024.

Deloitte Workplace Burnout Survey (2025) - 77% experienced burnout at current job. 70% feel employers not doing enough to prevent/alleviate burnout.

Talkspace (April 2025) - Comprehensive workplace mental health data compilation.

Meditopia for Work (September 2025) - Mind Share Partners/Qualtrics survey (April 2025): 90% experienced some mental health challenge.

NAMI (February 2025) - Key findings:

• 42% worry career would be negatively impacted if they discussed mental health at work
• Nearly 50% worry about being judged by colleagues
• Only 13% told manager/supervisor about mental health suffering from work demands
• 25% considered quitting due to mental health; 7% actually quit

Kansas Journal of Medicine (2021) - Peer-reviewed research establishing that after 50 hours/week, output per hour drops significantly.

Multiple peer-reviewed studies (compiled in various sources):

• Workers with >11-hour days: significantly higher heart disease risk
• 54+ hours/week: elevated risk of "karoshi" (death from overwork)
• 21% increased cardiovascular disease risk
• 84% increased Type 2 diabetes risk

Historical context: 98.8% of Chinese IT workers reported health problems. 75%+ of urban tech workers: work-related fatigue, pain, sleep/eating disorders. Cited in multiple analyses of 996 culture.

Crunchbase (September 2021) - Analysis of shift from 4-year to 1-year equity grants at companies like Stripe, Coinbase, Lyft (saving employers 75% equity dilution).

Sequoia (June 2025) - 20% of companies shifting refresh grants from time-based to performance-based vesting.

Sequoia (June 2025) - Refresh grant sizes shrinking: 2023: 48% were 50%+ of new hire grants; 2024: only 6%.

Hunt Scanlon Media (June 2025) - Executive compensation trends analysis.

Final Round AI (2025) - 77,999 tech jobs lost to AI in first 6 months of 2025 (427/day). 342 layoffs at tech companies attributed to AI in 2025.

DemandSage (September 2025) - 10,375 explicit AI-attributed job cuts in 2025. 14% of all workers report AI-related displacement. Entry-level job postings down 15% year-over-year.

Zippia (2025) - 2.1 million jobs displaced globally by AI as of 2025; 1.6 million created (net loss 500,000 jobs).