Baidu’s PR head leaves company after toxic work culture video controversy

Baidu’s PR head, Qu Jing, has actually left the online search engine giant after her questionable remarks on work culture blew up on Chinese social networks. The emerging of a series of videos made by Qu has actually caused the general public casting doubt on the business’s business worths.

“I’m not even bound to discover if you wept or had a quarrel [with your boyfriend or husband]which does not serve my issue as a manager. I’m not your mother-in-law, likewise not your mum,” Qu commented in among a series of brief videos published on Douyin, China’s TikTok brother or sister.

All 4 of Qu’s questionable videos on the platform have actually given that been erased, however clips can still be discovered on Chinese social platforms and her remarks have actually stimulated a firestorm of attention and argument.

Why it matters: The occurrence has actually intensified into Baidu’s most significant PR crisis in years. The business, which is dealing with a decreasing online search engine share and is looking for an AI-centric change, has actually wanted to relax public outrage in the wake of Qu’s remarks.

Information: News of Qu Jing’s departure was reported on Thursday night, simply hours after she said sorry in a post on WeChat Moments from her individual account.

• That apology letter did not point out Qu’s approaching exit from the business, however saw her clarify that the videos “do not represent Baidu’s position.” It specified that Qu did not acquire authorization from the business before making the videos public.
• Qu Jing ended up being the vice president and chief of interactions at Baidu in 2021, after leading public and federal government affairs at Huawei and her previous work as a press reporter for China’s state-backed Xinhua news company, according to her Wikipedia page
• In one video, Qu slammed a Baidu worker who declined to take a 50-day organization journey throughout the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when China enforced rigorous travel limitations throughout the nation. “How attempt you inform me that your other half can’t stand it and requires you back [home]I’m 10 or 20 years older than you and have 2 kids, [but] I feel neither bitter nor exhausted,” she stated.
• Another video that went viral late Wednesday included fuel to the fire of popular opinion, and bringing into concern Qu’s capability as a PR chief. In the brief video, Qu was tape-recorded smacking a little paper figure with the letters SCMP composed on it, commonly considered as describing the South China Morning Post. The occurrence is thought to be Qu venting her anger over a January report released by the paper connecting Baidu’s ChatGPT competitor ERNIE Bot with China’s military. TechNode has actually not been able to individually confirm when the video was taken.

Context: Baidu, in addition to other significant tech business in China, has actually dealt with duplicated analysis and criticism over its so-called wolf work culture recently. In among the most significant examples, in 2019, Alibaba creator Jack Ma came under fire after he described the practice of”996working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. 6 days a week, as a “big true blessing”.