Asia Techonomics: When presence in the office is considered career insurance

On Monday of this week, almost nothing worked in Shanghai: streets were flooded, basements were filled with water, and the fire department pumped paths clear. However, they were temporarily powerless against the floods that Typhoon "Dolphin" brought to the eastern Chinese metropolis of millions. Subway lines were stopped, ferries on the Huangpu River suspended operations, and hundreds of flights were cancelled.

The city administration drew the consequences: those who could should work from home. No one should suffer disadvantages due to flood-related absence. No one - except apparently those who feared that a day of working from home could harm their career. A few hours later, videos circulated on the Chinese social networks Wechat and Xiaohongshu of people wading through puddles and rapidly flowing water to make their way to the office.

Others struggled through traffic in torrential rain; visibility through the windshield was hardly more than a gray veil. The debate began in online forums: Is this a sense of duty or madness in a city that has elevated "higher, faster, further" to its unofficial motto?