Chinese online retailer Pinduoduo has a ‘hyperaggressive’ culture with hours surpassing a ‘996’ schedule, analysts write

• Temu’s sister company Pinduoduo may have a “9127” culture, Bernstein analysts wrote.
• This is a play on “996” work culture, which encourages work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. 
• The death of two Pinduoduo employees made headlines in 2021.

Temu’s sister company, Pinduoduo, is known for having an exceptionally intense workplace culture, Bernstein analysts wrote in a note published this week.

China-based PDD Holdings, which also owns online retailer Pinduoduo, launched Temu in the US in September 2022, emphasizing low prices and lightning deals. Temu is quickly taking off with US shoppers.

The Bernstein analysts wrote in their report that Temu’s performance has been far exceeding their expectations, reaching an estimated $13 billion in gross merchandise value for this year, double what they had forecast in January. Temu’s performance and strategy are reminiscent of Pinduoduo’s early days — perhaps in more ways than one, the analysts wrote.

“We doubt PDD’s hyper-aggressive workplace culture will [win] many best employer awards — its brand of ‘996’ can often be more like ‘9127,’ and staff turnover is known to be high,” they wrote. “But the combination of a very lean organizational structure (enabling best-in-class agility of execution) and the fact PDD has staffed its A-team on Temu means we expect the company to be a force to be reckoned with globally in the coming years.”

“996” refers to a work culture that encourages tech employees to work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. That grueling schedule has been endorsed by Chinese tech executives like the Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma and the JD.com founder Richard Liu Qiangdong, but it’s grown controversial in China and elsewhere. Bernstein analyst Robin Zhu said the “9127” reference, which would mean 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. seven days a week, was meant to be a joke, but added that the company’s work culture is very aggressive in general.

Representatives for Temu did not return Insider’s request for comment.

In 2021, the deaths of two Pinduoduo employees made international headlines. One died by suicide, while the other collapsed after walking home from work after midnight. Local officials in Shanghai said at the time that they would investigate Pinduoduo’s working conditions.

Pinduoduo launched in China in 2015. It’s known for pioneering a group-purchase model, incentivizing buyers by offering a discount if multiple parties place an order together.

Meanwhile, Temu emphasizes rock-bottom prices, often drawing comparisons to Shein. While Shein remains ahead of Temu in terms of buyer awareness, Temu sees high buyer-retention rates, the Bernstein analysts noted.

“Compared with peers like Shein for example, Temu spends a greater proportion of its investment dollars creating mind share in everyday value, as opposed to on influencer marketing,” they wrote. “Merchants we speak with have generally been highly complimentary of Temu’s execution.'”

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