Chinese woman exits 600 work chat groups, sparks online debate

A 33 year old woman from Nanchong, Sichuan province, has set the internet abuzz after she revealed that she had to leave over 600 chat groups following her resignation from work. This revelation sparked extensive online discussions.

The woman, Tang Ying, had been working as a retail designer for a real estate company for four years. She belonged to more than 600 work groups. During busy work periods, she was involved in more than 10 group chats simultaneously, even carrying her computer with her to hot pot meals. At her busiest, she was responsible for decorating stores in seven to eight shopping malls, each with hundreds of stores and a group for each shop’s decor.

Tang Ying explained that some netizens don’t understand why there are so many work groups, but for her, these groups were crucial to her job. Normally, she didn’t dare leave the groups and even hesitated to clear simple group messages. Talking about her feelings after leaving work and exiting the groups, she said she felt relaxed, free, and no longer pressured by work groups, reported Red Star News.

The continuous beeping from the chat app scared Tang Ying. She dared not turn off her phone or stop checking the groups, as missing critical news in any group could affect the opening of a new store. “Even while eating hot pot or playing outside, I usually take my computer with me and follow group messages all the time. As long as there are things to deal with.” However, the large number of group messages also caused Tang Ying a bit of worry. Normally, she would quickly scroll through unrelated messages in the group, but some people would @ her about anything, which made her feel depressed.

It took her about a week before she left her job to hand over her work, and she gradually introduced her successor to important work groups. But she spent from 3am to 6.30am, or three and a half hours, leaving more than 600 work groups.

However, her resignation had nothing much to do with the overwhelming number of work groups. But too many work groups inevitably lead to many other work pressures. In fact, there are still employees working in the company for five, six, or ten years. She also left and this is not the reason. “Now I feel much more relaxed,” about her feelings after leaving her job and leaving the group, Tang Ying said she is free, she is no longer pushed by the work group, she can eat hot pot leisurely, and have fun.