Hoping to work in Silicon Valley after college? Be prepared to work on weekends

In Silicon Valley, employees at tech companies may face longer work hours, with a “996” schedule in place.

“996” refers to a work schedule originating in China that involves working from 9am to 9pm six days a week, amounting to a 72-hour work week.

Recently, some technology company CEOs have claimed that working long hours — even on weekends — is necessary to get ahead at a time when investors are betting billions on the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI).

Earlier this year, Sergey Brin, Google’s founding CEO, wrote in a memo to employees working on the company’s AI products that “60 hours a week is the sweet spot for productivity,” according to a report in The New York Times.

Moreover, it’s not just CEOs of big tech companies that are encouraging employees to work longer than the traditional nine-to-five workday schedule.

After Windsurf was acquired by AI startup Cognition, another AI startup, Cognition CEO Scott Wu, took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce that Windsurf employees will have the option to join Cognition — but only if they’re willing to work long hours.

“Perception has an extreme performance culture, and we are upfront about this when hiring, so there are no surprises later,” Wu wrote on X. “We are routinely in the office on the weekend and do some of our best work late at night. Many of us literally live where we work.”

One New York City-based AI startup, Rilla, makes its job expectations for software engineers explicit in its job postings. “Please do not join if you are not excited…to work approximately 70 hours a week in person with some of the most ambitious people in New York City.”

While much of the evidence supporting the “996” phenomenon is anecdotal, a recent analysis by Ramp — a credit card issuer and fintech company — found data to back it up.

Ara Kharzian, an economist at Ramp, analyzed Ramp’s corporate card data and found that there was a spike in corporate credit card transactions on Saturdays in 2025 compared to 2024, specifically in San Francisco, which he says is evidence of “996” work schedules.

“So the headline is simple: Schedule 996 now has a measurable signature in San Francisco spending data. It’s modern, it’s local, and it extends beyond technology,” Kharzian wrote. “If you feel the city’s weekend bustle is back, it’s quantitatively true now.”