(Yicai Global) Jan. 11 -- Pinduoduo has reported the second premature death among its employees in less than two weeks, putting the Chinese e-retailing giant’s harsh 12-hour work days under scrutiny by local authorities.

A technology development engineer surnamed Tan jumped off a building when visiting his hometown Changsha, central Hunan province on Jan. 9, the Shanghai-based firm said, expressing its deep condolences. An investigation is ongoing, but no other parties are thought to be involved, it added.

This follows the death on Dec. 29 of a staff member of the firm’s online grocery platform Duoduo Maicai who appears to have collapsed from exhaustion at 1:30 a.m. at the company’s offices.

This prompted Shanghai’s occupational health and safety agency to look into the notorious ‘996’ work system used by many of the country’s tech giants which refers to a nine a.m. start and nine p.m. finish six days a week. Staff at Pinduoduo reportedly start work at 11 a.m. and clock off at 11 p.m. Monday to Saturday.

Pinduoduo will set up a dedicated help line for psychological and special emergency matters and will appoint trained staff to serve as counselors for employees, the firm said.

Pinduoduo employs just 7,000 staff, a fraction of fellow e-commerce giant JD.com’s 320,000 employees, Chief Executive Officer Chen Lei once said. The e-retailer dispatches over 70 million parcels a day.

Pinduoduo pays its staff higher salaries than similar positions at other tech giants, but it employs less people, Shanghai Securities News reported previously.

The online retailing sensation turned a profit for the first time in the third quarter, raking in CNY466.4 million (USD72 million), according to its latest earnings report. Revenue shot up 89 percent to CNY14.2 billion (USD2.2 billion).

Pinduoduo’s stock price [NASDAQ:PDD] hit a record high on Jan. 5 of USD187.20. On the last trading day, Jan. 8, it closed up 0.36 percent at USD180.77, giving it a market capitalization of USD221.7 billion.

Editor: Kim Taylor