Chinese workers are using social media and consumer boycotts to protest employers requiring weekend work around the week-long National Day holiday at the start of October. A Weibo topic opposing such compensation work has attracted 360 million views and 120,000 discussions, while a campaign encouraging shoppers to support businesses that provide two-day weekends was suspended after drawing 150,000 contributors. The backlash comes as China’s courts accepted 648,000 labour disputes against employers in the first nine months of 2025, up 37.5% from a year earlier. Analysts link the unrest to an export-driven growth model that intensifies competition, restrains wages and encourages overtime, increasing pressure on Beijing to direct more economic growth toward households.