The sudden death of a white collar technician in Shenzhen once again sparked heated debates among netizens regarding overtime work, National Business Daily reports.

Zhu Bo, a 30-something senior technician at Silkroad Digital Technology, died suddenly last Wednesday at his home.

A former staff member of the company said Zhu's death was most probably caused by long-term overwork.

"The jobs we did were with very high intensity. We need to concentrate hard on the blueprints to avoid errors," said the former employee. "We always worked overtime and slept in the office. It seemed even strange to leave on time." He said he used to work continuously for five days and nights without going home.

A current employee admitted that working overtime has become a normal state of affairs in the company. Almost all employees frequently work until two or three o'clock in the morning or even through the night. He also added that this situation is common throughout the industry.

A netizen who knows Zhu wrote on an online forum that the continuous overtime work destroyed Zhu's health, and his death left his wife and 3-year-old daughter saddled with a big housing loan from the bank. The netizen accused Silkroad of neglecting the health of its employees.

Silkroad spokesperson, however, said the company shouldn't be held responsible for Zhu's death and won't pay compensation.

Yang Xinchun, a professor at Capital University of Medical Sciences, said about 600,000 people die from overwork every year in China. In 2006, the sudden death of a 25-year-old software engineer at Huawei Technologies, one of China's top telecommunications companies, caused hot debates among the Chinese public.

(CRI April 2, 2009)