DJI and other major companies are all "anti-involution"

Author | Huang Yu

Editor | Zhou Zhiyu

In recent years, more and more large companies have begun to adjust their overtime policies. In this trend, recently, global drone giant DJI has also joined the "anti-involution" movement.

According to Wall Street Insights, starting from February 27, DJI launched a "no overtime" campaign, requiring employees to leave work by 9 PM. At the Shenzhen headquarters, supervisors and HR conduct three rounds of "herding" employees at 9 PM, and even patrol the floors to ensure employees leave on time. This news once topped the trending searches.

For DJI, "mandatory off work" is not only a passive choice for policy compliance and global competition but also an active exploration of scientific and humane corporate management.

Standing at a new starting point of globalization, DJI must undergo transformation.

DJI's Entry

An insider from DJI told Wall Street Insights that tech companies generally have serious overtime issues, but considering employees' personal health and long-term sustainable development, the company intends to make some attempts or changes. They have previously made different "attempts," which may have had little effect, such as prohibiting meetings on Wednesday evenings and encouraging everyone to leave early.

This time, the initiative of "forcing employees to leave work by 9 PM" is undoubtedly another attempt by DJI to "combat involution."

The DJI insider stated that the working hours are flexible from 9 AM to 10:30 AM, and many colleagues in various departments leave work at normal times around 7 or 8 PM. Additionally, the high-tech industry generally has high pressure, and colleagues may feel pressure or even shame about leaving work on time or not working overtime, which is unhealthy. It is essential to encourage everyone to arrange their time reasonably and rest well.

On social media, many people claiming to be DJI employees shared their experiences of being "herded" out of the office, with one employee exclaiming, "It's my first time being kicked out of the company."

Moreover, many people are spreading the word that DJI's work system is 996, but it is understood that DJI does not require employees to work or overtime on weekends.

A storm of "anti-involution" is sweeping in. In fact, not only DJI, but manufacturing companies like Haier and Midea are also launching "anti-involution" movements, taking strong measures to put an end to the overtime culture.

In February of this year, Haier was reported to require mandatory double weekends, issuing a notice to fully implement the double weekend system, with all departments (including R&D, marketing, etc.) observing double weekends, prohibiting work on Saturdays, and the cafeteria not providing meals. For special circumstances requiring overtime, approval must be obtained a week in advance, and overtime on workdays cannot exceed 3 hours per day.

Additionally, Midea Group Chairman and President Fang Hongbo previously issued a document titled "Requirements for Simplifying Work Methods." It specifically proposed six major requirements for simplifying work methods: prohibiting the use of PPT for internal communication (except in special circumstances), strictly forbidding meetings after work and formalistic overtime, reducing WeChat group communication, eliminating ghostwriting of materials and manual reports, and prohibiting internal gift-giving Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told Wall Street Watch that the phenomenon of well-known companies like DJI, Haier, and Midea firing the first shot in the "anti-involution" movement is a positive signal. This not only reflects the companies' attention to and respect for employee rights but also demonstrates their proactive response and initiative for change in the face of market competition and policy pressure.

Behind the Reform

Behind the "anti-involution" movement, DJI has many deep considerations.

Firstly, this is an industry trend driven by policy. In July 2024, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China first proposed to "strengthen industry self-discipline and prevent 'involution-style' vicious competition"; in December of the same year, the Central Economic Work Conference further identified "comprehensive rectification of 'involution-style' competition and regulation of local government and enterprise behavior" as one of the key tasks for 2025.

At the recent 2025 National Two Sessions, the rectification of "involution-style" competition became a hot topic, and the 2025 government work report also for the first time included "comprehensive rectification of involution-style competition" in the document, releasing a strong policy signal.

The government work report requires accelerating the establishment and improvement of basic institutional rules, breaking local protection and market segmentation, and unblocking the bottlenecks and obstacles that restrict economic circulation in areas such as market access and exit, and factor allocation, to comprehensively rectify "involution-style" competition.

This marks a shift in policy focus from past concerns about economic growth rates to high-quality development, requiring companies to enhance competitiveness through management optimization rather than human resource consumption.

Secondly, the "EU Regulation on Prohibition of Products Made with Forced Labor," which will take effect at the end of 2024, stipulates that any products involving "forced labor" must not enter the EU market.

Wang Peng pointed out that "excessive overtime" could potentially be viewed as forced labor. For export giants like DJI, Haier, and Midea, adjusting work systems to comply with EU regulatory requirements is a necessary measure to ensure that products can smoothly enter the EU market.

Since its establishment in 2006, DJI's business has now spread to over 100 countries and regions. In addition to the consumer drone market, DJI is also expanding into agriculture, medical imaging, robotics education, and even autonomous driving.

According to the list of China's top 500 private enterprises released by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, DJI's revenue reached 30.14 billion yuan in 2022.

A research report from Kaiyuan Securities pointed out that DJI has achieved an 85% market share in the global civil drone market, with a 77% share in the global drone market and a 73% share in the Chinese consumer drone market, firmly holding the "air supremacy" of the world.

In addition to supporting globalization, for DJI, actively making management adjustments can undoubtedly help the company achieve sustainable development, shape a "humanized enterprise" image, and achieve the goal of cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

DJI has long passed the period of rapid scale expansion; sustainable development is key. In the future, finding a balance between efficiency, health, and corporate culture will be crucial for the deepening of DJI's globalization strategy.

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