PR executive reportedly departs China's Baidu after comments glorifying overwork draw backlash

HONG KONG (AP) — A top Baidu public relations executive has reportedly departed the Chinese technology company after she drew public outcry over her comments that were seen as glorifying a culture of overwork.

Baidu’s head of communications Qu Jing had implied in a series of videos that she was not concerned about her employees as she was “not their mom” and said she only cared about results. She also said that the relationship between her and her subordinates was purely an “employer-employee relationship.”

The backlash was swift, with many on social media platforms like Weibo saying Qu lacked empathy.

Chinese online media outlet 36Kr first reported late Thursday that Qu had left her position at Baidu, citing unnamed sources. Internal systems showed Qu is no longer with the firm, according to a Baidu employee who asked not to be named as they were not authorized to provide that information to media.

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