Abroad
Chinese man, 32, who died after being overworked was covering workload of 6-7 people due to manpower shortage
His wife also claimed that he would leave home at 7am and not return until 11pm.
January 24, 2026, 01:37 PM
More allegations have emerged regarding the death of a 32-year-old programmer in Guangdong, China, who was apparently overworked.
Gao Guanghui (transliteration) was reported to have died from a cardiac arrest.
Was supposedly covering the workload of six to seven people
Gao's wife claimed that her husband had to shoulder the workload of about six to seven people as his company had failed to replenish his department's manpower, Chinese media reported.
He had been promoted to department manager and was working long hours in the lead up to his death.
According to his wife, Gao would only sleep six to seven hours a day, and leave home at 7am and not return until 11pm.
Gao also had to sit in on meetings and calls, even when he was driving.
On top of his original job scope of handling programme development and technical issues, Gao was also supposedly required to accompany his company's sales team for business negotiations, coordinate projects and manage communication between departments.
His salary was also subjected to a structure that had a "low base, high performance" model, which meant a large amount of work was required to increase his income.
His base salary was reportedly RMB3,000 (S$548) and had increased to about RMB19,000 (S$3,470) about a month just before his death.
Was added to a work chat even while he was fighting for his life in hospital
On the day of his death on Nov. 29, 2025, his wife recalled that Gao had woken up, saying he felt unwell and subsequently fainted.
Even as he was fighting for his life, Gao was added to a new work group chat asking him to handle work issues.
Eight hours after he passed, a colleague apparently messaged him to tell him that the work was urgent and needed to be completed.
According to HK01, the family believes his death stemmed from his overworking and has applied for compensation.
The wife also shared details about how the company had apparently treated her husband's belongings after he passed.
She said she was sent a box of his personal belongings, which were not properly packed.
She also claimed that some items had been disposed of, and when she went to the company to demand an explanation, she was allegedly told these items were already gone, and her concerns were dismissed.
Investigations are ongoing into the situation and the overwork claims.
Top left photo via Weibo, right via sina.cn
