A person familiar with the matter told CNN Business that traders and fund managers were being offered between 500 and 2,000 yuan ($78-314) a night to camp at work, with some companies putting folding beds under workers’ desks . Other companies have also provided their employees with sleeping bags, food and hygiene items.
Much of Pudong is “doing it,” the source added, referring to Shanghai’s financial district, which is home to more than 1,000 financial institutions, and China’s leading stock exchange – which continues to function normally. Zhong Ou Asset Management, a Chinese company that says it has $98 billion in assets under management. An executive, dubbed the “local boss,” has been “stationed in the office for more than half a month,” the company said in a post on Chinese social network WeChat on Monday.
Another firm, Foresight Fund, also said some of its employees have remained in the office since March 16.
“Weekends are no exception. They bring daily necessities and call the company home,” reads a post on WeChat, which shows photos of a well-stocked pantry and camping beds next to workers’ desks. Shanghai has emerged as the new epicenter of the worst Covid-19 outbreak in China in two years, with more than 25,000 cases since March 1.
Officer launched a phased lockdown on Monday, telling about 11 million people in the eastern half of the city – which includes Pudong – to stay indoors for four days. The western half, home to about 14 million people, will begin restrictions on Friday.
During the pandemic, workers in China have become more familiar with the concept of office living.
Earlier this month, China’s state-run news agency china.com.cn released a video diary showing workers making multiple expenses Nights in an office in Shanghai. While the video didn’t identify the company, it said so 75 workers lived in an area of 3,230 square meters.
In the footage posted to Chinese social platform Weixin Earlier this month, employees slept on air mattresses scattered around the office. A man washed his face in the bathroom sink.
Showers are “an issue,” a worker said in the video, adding that the team first had to boil hot water to wash up before finally installing a shower facility.
“It feels like going back to dormitories.”
When it came time to sleep, they faced other problems. The employee in the video complained that the marble floor was hard and uncomfortable, even with sleeping bags.
“For the first few days we felt panic. We couldn’t sleep before 2 a.m. to 3 a.m.,” she said.
Some colleagues also snored, so “we decided to send them to a meeting room,” she added. “So they sleep together in this room.”
The video was not specified why workers were locked down before the citywide restrictions.
But China has a practice of imposing “quick” lockdowns across the country, sometimes shutting down entire office buildings with people still inside, even if just a single Covid-19 case is detected. Bedding and other necessities are also often provided to these workers. Last year, Shanghai Disneyland became a prominent example of such strict measures when tens of thousands of visitors and staff were forced to undergo a coronavirus test after authorities said one visitor had tested positive.
Despite the recent crackdown, companies in Shanghai are undeterred.
This week, the Shanghai Stock Exchange announced that it would offer online services for companies to continue holding listing ceremonies, road shows and shareholder meetings. Also, some document submission requirements will be relaxed.
The priority is to “keep the business going,” Zhong Ou Asset Management said in its Monday post.
CNN’s Simone McCarthy contributed to this report.