Deaths, self-immolation draw scrutiny on China tech giants

A food delivery worker wearing a face mask prepares to deliver foods for his customers outside a restaurant in Beijing. Conditions and pay are so poor for the e-commerce workers and delivery people who kept China fed and enriched their bosses' coffers during the pandemic that one just set himself on fire in protest. — AP

HONG KONG: E-commerce workers who kept China fed during the coronavirus pandemic, making their billionaire bosses even richer, are so unhappy with their pay and treatment that one just set himself on fire in protest.

China’s Internet industries already were known for long, demanding days. With millions of families confined at home, demand surged and employees delivered tons of vegetables, rice, meat, diapers and other supplies, often aboard scooters that exposed them to sub-freezing winter cold.