Enterprises are helpless and employees are unwilling, all of which are among them.
Wenyu Hunting Cloud Network ID: ilieyun
Author Zhou Jiali Sheng Jiaying Han Wenjing Su Shu
Edit | Lin Wenlong
Under the epidemic, a large number of enterprises are suffering, and they will only start in 2020, and the theme of most enterprises will become "live".
In the case that it is difficult to carry out business normally, it has become a temporary choice for enterprises to "survive", reduce wages or lay off employees.
"I laid off the employee who was rewarded at the annual meeting", "I lost 90,000 a day and laid off 20% of the employees", "I’m ready to be alone", "I’ve just been in the company for four months, and I’m laid off", "You only have two choices, agree or agree" ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The following is their self-report, slightly edited.
I laid off the employee who was rewarded at the annual meeting.
Narrator Zhao Peng, founder of a maternal and child technology enterprise.
We come from Xiamen, and we are a start-up enterprise of maternal and child technology. We mainly provide services for maternal and child travel through the time-sharing business of baby carriages, which means that we attach great importance to offline and rely on service places such as business districts and scenic spots.
In August 2018, our first batch of self-help strollers was officially launched in a shopping mall in Xiamen. In January 2019, we launched the expansion of major cities in China and set up branches in Shanghai and Shenzhen, so that we can radiate major cities in East China and South China. Throughout 2019, we completed the laying and operation in more than 100 outlets in 11 cities across the country, serving nearly 100,000 users.
It can be said that in 2019, our speed is still ok, and our results and data are also quite optimistic. During the Spring Festival, shopping malls and tourist attractions were crowded, and the original plan of the team was to work overtime.
But the plan couldn’t keep up with the change, and the sudden epidemic broke everything. When the mall is closed, our business is also shut down, and it is stressful every day.
To put it simply, we won’t last three months.
After the outbreak of the epidemic, masks became just needed, and the team immediately ordered a batch of medical masks through relevant channels, and urgently launched the small program group purchase page, giving priority to our car users at the cost price, providing them with value-added services, and also giving back to users for their trust in us. After all, the purchase volume of a single family is too small, and the factory is not willing to take orders, so we want to make a platform to help everyone purchase, and it is the key to survive. However, it backfired. In the end, for various reasons, the manufacturer could not deliver the goods for a refund, so we returned the money to the user. It’s a pity that we started this activity quite early in the special period.
There are about 30 people in our team. At present, I am in the office with several other core executives, and other employees are still working online at home. The routine protective equipment in the office is also complete, except for masks, which are more troublesome and need to be distributed by lottery. Everyone is equipped with about 6 to ensure daily needs.
What I am most worried about now is when the offline outlets will return to normal. Although we have data showing that some outlets, such as those in Shanghai and Shenzhen, are used by sporadic customers, they are all at a very low single-digit level, even less than the usual fraction.
Coupled with the high cost of venue rent, manpower and other hard costs, a lot of money is lost every day, but it has not entered. In order to alleviate the financial pressure of the company, we have to go out of the step of "layoffs" and reduce the manpower by about 10%.
In fact, this decision has been negotiated with the other two shareholders long ago, but I still put it off for a week, always expecting that there will be a specific medicine or the situation will suddenly turn around. But I really can’t wait, and the expenses are still quite large.
There is also an employee I just rewarded at the annual meeting, but I can’t help it, because his position is most affected by the epidemic, which means that he may have nothing to do for several months.
I am also very sad to make such a decision, but I have no choice but to make it through. If I don’t make it through this time, the company will be gone and everyone will be gone! I want to wait until the epidemic is over and the company is back on track, and I want to invite the comrades who left back. This is not empty talk, but a real plan.
In order to survive, we also tried every possible way. For example, we went to negotiate with many high-priced, medium and large-scale chain brands such as offline maternal and child stores, parenting education enterprises, catering, tourism and hotel industries. They are also the hardest hit areas of the epidemic, with no passenger flow and no revenue, and they are very anxious every day.
Although it is difficult for us, what is better is that we have a platform and there are customers in the platform. The epidemic will eventually pass, and everyone will definitely go to offline service places for consumption. Then we will pre-sell these products that will definitely be consumed on the platform at preferential prices, and let some funds come back first to survive this period.
For users, they get the same service at a more favorable price than usual; For businesses in offline service places, even if a part of the price system is sacrificed, with cash flow, it is possible to survive.
During the recent period, I watched several movies, one of which was about Churchill’s "The Dark Hour", in which there was a line: No matter how horrible it is, we must strive for victory, no matter how long and difficult the road is, because we cannot survive without victory.
Just like this line, no matter how difficult the road is, I will try my best to keep my company alive. We have to fight back to have a chance to survive.
Lose 90 thousand a day and lay off 20% employees
Narrator Jiang Weijian, founder of a restaurant chain brand.
This year is the fifth year of my business. Up to now, the company brand has operated dozens of direct stores and signed nearly 100 contracts nationwide.
Affected by the epidemic, most of our stores are closed, and only five direct stores have resumed business in an individual form, but they only provide take-away business. In fact, we are engaged in physical retail, and it is also the first time to try online sales. Orders are mainly from old members. Basically, a store has an average of about 3,000 orders a day.
But this is just a drop in the bucket. The rent, manpower and the cost of various raw materials inventory are squeezing the small cash flow every day. We have calculated that there are basically losses of more than 90 thousand yuan a day, and there are more than 2.5 million yuan a month.
Compared with those big companies, our small companies are even worse, because big companies will have some policy resources, and if they want money, they can get it through all channels. And we are the most uncomfortable, and we don’t expect much money from the outside world, so we still have to open up sources and reduce expenditure within the company.
For us, if the epidemic can end before April, there may be nothing. However, if it is still spreading, we may cut off those unprofitable direct-operated stores. Otherwise, the headquarters office may be removed and all the unnecessary expenses that should be cut off will be cut off.
To tell the truth, in small business groups, I think our losses should be less. Most chain stores with a scale of 100 basically lose one or two million dollars a day, while we are all small stores, and the rent and employment are relatively less than them. I calculated that the cash flow in our account will last for six or seven months, which is not a big problem.
On the franchisee’s side, we basically exempted him from the management fees for these two or three months. There are more than 100 stores across the country, and the management fees are about 1000 yuan. We are certainly not the worst in this industry, but no one can feel it anyway.
The pressure on the headquarters is relatively high, and no one can change the objective facts of this big environment now. It is definitely necessary for everyone to share it. In order to survive, all of our company only get the minimum salary of 1,000 yuan or 2,000 yuan, and at the same time they have laid off employees, with a range of about 20%.
However, the original 10% elimination system in our company is strict. Now basically, for example, a store used to use three people, but now it only uses one person; Employees who have not passed the probation period and feel that they are not particularly suitable are basically laid off.
The epidemic is ruthless, but there is a "crisis" and there is an "opportunity". For us, on the one hand, the focus of our brand this year is to do online take-out, so it is our direction of strength this year that the same city distribution includes online take-out. The outbreak of the epidemic has forced us to speed up preparations in this regard.
In addition, last year, we mainly operated directly, and this year, we will focus on joining the whole country and becoming a relatively mature catering brand. We were weak before joining this piece. The epidemic just gave us two or three months to quickly improve the investment promotion system.
At this time, we still don’t like things, we don’t care about ourselves, and no one can change things outside, so we can only block them and have means to hide them. What happens, we will face it in what way, and what cannot be changed can only be sad.
We also made it from a small scale bit by bit. Along the way, we have experienced life-and-death moments several times, and this time it may be better than the life-and-death moments in the past.
At the end of 2016, there will be 100,000 yuan in cash on the account, and there will be no money to pay the completion capital to the employees. That is life and death. And at that time, everyone was living well, only I was on the borderline of life and death. Now, everyone is facing the same problem, and we may find that our problems are a little less. This is the "spirit of Ah Q". Whether we can survive or not depends on our own skills.
I didn’t lay off staff, but the staff didn’t come.
Narrator Wang Qing, owner of an Internet cafe.
When I was a child, my dream was to be the owner of an Internet cafe. I could play games and collect money at the same time. Now I’m in Suzhou, running four theme Internet cafes on and off, and my dream has come true just after I turned 30.
However, the sudden epidemic really caught me off guard and immediately shut down the store. Failure to open the door means that there is no cash flow, and there are a lot of hard costs such as rent and manpower every day. Now one of our stores loses about 10 thousand yuan a month, and four stores lose 40 thousand yuan. It’s uncomfortable!
In order to reduce the loss, I shut down the telecom network fee, and the facade rented by the private landlord still has to pay rent; The state, the property side promised to reduce or exempt for two months.
In terms of manpower, at first, I thought that the epidemic was short, and the wages at that time were normal. Later, it became more and more serious. I negotiated with my employees to let them wait for the door to open before coming to work. But out of a total of 16 people, only five people agreed to come, and two-thirds of them directly found jobs in their hometown factories.
In terms of capital reserve, because of the bad market, there was no dividend among our partners years ago, and there is still some money in the account, which can be spent for the time being. It has not reached the point where it needs loans and other channels to seek capital investment.
However, the Internet cafe industry has had a hard time in recent years. The survival of the fittest in the market, the popularity of client games declined, and the growth rate of online games slowed down as a whole. Coupled with the rise of mobile mobile games, the business of Internet cafes is getting worse and worse, and it is even called "sunset industry".
Our operation in recent years is also not optimistic. When we first started in 2015, because it was cheap, all the nights were full. Now customers are looking at the environment, service and mood, and the price is not so important. At present, there are only shops near the university town, and there are quite a lot of people who take the night package, but the shops in the urban area are different. From 6 pm to 10 pm, the machines are full. After 10 pm, there are fewer people, and there are about 20 people who take the night package.
In the narrow track, it is always the turn to play tricks with the net fish Internet cafe. Once, Net Fish Internet Cafe also found us to join us. Their management and brand are good, but as an investor and a boss, they will not join. I have calculated an account, although it is free to join, but all the manpower, equipment and even decoration in the later period have to go through the net fish Internet cafe, and they have to be drawn from the turnover.
This directly determines that after joining, the expenses are greater than the income, and it will take at least two years to return to the capital. And I run it myself, and I can turn it over in a year or so. I think, Net Fish Internet Cafe has led the Internet cafe industry into a high-end stage, including net fish milk tea and services, but now there is no bright spot, and the investment in individual equipment is also great. Now the high-end stores are almost the same as Net Fish. The market is so scattered that they can’t eat it. No matter what fish or coffee, the internet cafe industry is already on the edge of a cliff.
On the one hand, nowadays, young people are keeping in good health by Buddhism. Generally, there are few people in the venue after 2 o’clock in the morning, and the era of surfing the Internet all night is gone. On the other hand, the rise of mobile games has had a great impact on Internet cafes. If PC-side games are not updated or newly released, it will be difficult for Internet cafes to survive in the future.
Although the store is running smoothly now, I think: now that I am an adult after 00, fewer and fewer people will go to Internet cafes in the future, so the Internet cafe industry should also adapt to the new era, such as the current mobile game pavilion and VR e-sports pavilion, which will be my new direction in the future.
From Internet cafes to Internet cafes, to the current e-sports hall, from the first ten stores to the four stores that are now exhausted, I have witnessed the ups and downs of the industry for so many years. Now, affected by the epidemic, I can only walk and watch. If the industry has money to do it, we should do it again.
I’m ready to be alone.
Narrator Zhou Yang, founder of parent-child children’s drama.
On January 20th, as usual, I packed my bags and left my company in Wuhan to go back to my hometown in Jingzhou for the New Year. At that time, Zhong Nanshan had just announced the existence of human-to-human transmission in Covid-19. No one expected that a month later, this "black swan" would have such a profound impact on everyone.
As a parent-child children’s drama team in Wuhan, I originally planned to start the first national tour at the end of February, but now the tour plan has been put on hold, and the epidemic has not yet reached the turning point, and I have to resume work in the foreseeable future. In the face of the company that has stopped working for a month, I made a decision to lay off employees. "Without layoffs, the company will not last for a few months. “
"All the executive team members of the company have been cut off, leaving only the product research and development team to continue to make products." When I made this decision, I communicated with each laid-off employee one-on-one, and said that I would invite the employees back after the start of work and make some financial compensation. But I also know that this is a false proposition, "everyone in the industry is not immune."
Affected by the epidemic, the offline entertainment industry stopped operating all the way. Compared with the catering industry, entertainment is not just needed, especially as a segmented live performance, which has the nature of assembly. "Even if the epidemic is controlled, everyone will be worried about the uncertainty of the virus. Unless the virus disappears completely, the industry will recover."
But this means that a longer recovery cycle is needed. For a small and medium-sized enterprise, I don’t know whether I can hold out until then, to be honest.
"Unlike the education industry, we can switch to online operations, especially for young children’s dramas, and pay more attention to the atmosphere and experience in offline scenes. Online performances cannot be immersive." Nevertheless, my team and I are still studying how to turn the performance training business into online teaching.
"I really don’t know how long the epidemic will last. If I stop working for another month, I may dissolve everyone. I’m ready to leave me alone. “
I didn’t sign the resignation agreement, and I can’t get the next offer.
Narrator: liujing, a programmer of an Internet company.
Two weeks before the Chinese New Year, the company began to inform colleagues to resign by agreement, and I was also on the list. Although the company’s unified approach is to leave the company by agreement, it is actually a disguised layoff.
The company laid off 40% of its colleagues for some internal reasons. I was not surprised when the personnel came to consult with me, because almost all of our department was laid off because of the company’s business development needs. In fact, I can understand the company’s layoffs, but I don’t quite agree with some practices of the company in layoffs.
Violent layoffs in the company are also a chilling place for us laid-off old employees. I have been in the company for two years, and I was laid off years ago. The year-end bonus and the double salary at the end of the year are all gone, and the company only provides N+1 compensation for layoffs, which I can’t accept. So, I haven’t signed it yet, which means I still belong to the company employees.
More than half of the people in the company have signed off, and a small number of them, including me, still want to fight for their due rights. We planned to take the road of arbitration years before we signed it. However, I never expected to postpone my return to work because of the epidemic. My heart began to waver from this time.
I didn’t hurry to leave my job years ago because I didn’t expect the company to put it off until years later. Plus, I already have nearly four offer, and I feel that I can solve the resignation agreement before I start my new job.
The epidemic has become a stumbling block among them, and it has also made me think about whether I should go back to my favorite place to find a new job.
Among the offer, I am satisfied with one, and I have already planned to sign with this company. All pre-employment activities are going on normally, but because the resignation agreement is not available, the company’s employment notice can’t come down.
I’m in an awkward position now. I didn’t get the resignation agreement of my left hand, and the offer of my right hand was delayed because of the delay in returning to work. The company didn’t sign the resignation agreement, and I still belong to the company’s employees, but the company took away all our office tools and permissions, and the delay also made it impossible for me to return to the company to work normally.
Now, I have been in the house rented in Beijing, and I am at a loss. It has been nearly a month since I came back to Beijing from my hometown. I wake up every day to see what plans my colleagues who have not signed the company have, or just read books and play games. This leisure time without work makes me panic.
If I hadn’t met this epidemic, at least this time, I could go out to travel and be chic with my friends. Now I am trapped in a rented place and eat instant noodles every day. This kind of life is really wronged.
All along, I’m not too worried about being laid off. I came to this company after my master’s degree and stayed here until now. I also believe that I am not afraid of unemployment with my own ability. After all, the next family need not worry. However, I have never thought about the situation like this. I can’t retreat and I can’t enter.
I’ve been running all the way and I haven’t stopped. This time suddenly gave me nearly a month’s free time, but it made me think about whether to stay in Beijing and continue running. Every day, with the crowded people, I rush forward. I began to hesitate to leave Beijing, find a comfortable place and find a stable job, but I was unwilling.
I didn’t expect my firm heart to waver sometimes. It stands to reason that I have been "unemployed" for a month. This month, I have been in a state of suspension and waiting for work, holding a minimum wage of 3,000 yuan and living in a daze. But this 3000 yuan is not enough to pay off half of my mortgage.
On February 25th, the company colleagues also planned to go to the Labor Bureau for arbitration together, although I don’t know the result. But I still hope to end the present state as soon as possible. I’m worried that if I rest for a long time, I’ll erase my initial passion.
I have just been in the company for four months, and I was laid off.
Narrator Xiao Ju, an employee of an online financial company.
"It’s finally my turn." Less than a year after I worked, I caught up with the layoffs.
On the morning of February 24th, I put on a mask and set off from Foshan. As usual, I took this familiar subway Guangfo line. It only took me less than 30 minutes to travel from my home in Foshan to my company in Guangzhou. I once "showed off" to my friends how convenient it was to get from my home to my company.
This may be my last visit to the company, and my purpose is clear: to make a second negotiation with the supervisor and discuss the issue of layoffs.
"Before the layoffs happened, the company did a good job in all aspects, especially in terms of benefits and humanistic care, and never mistreated employees." I graduated in 2019 and came to Guangzhou, an internet finance company, after the National Day last year.
"The company has been established for four or five years, with a small scale of about 500 people, but it has always done a good job in caring for employees. I am also very comfortable working here. " Annual leave, welfare leave, paid sick leave, care money, energy coin punching and other benefits are available.
"I don’t understand why the company handled it like this at the last moment. The leader asked me to apply for resignation voluntarily, which means there is no compensation, which surprised me." On February 3rd, the company informed me to resume work remotely, so I started telecommuting at home as required. On the evening of February 9th, a video conference was held inside the company, proposing that each department should reduce the labor cost by 30%. The reason is very simple. The company failed in financing years ago, and with the impact of the epidemic, it was difficult for the company to operate normally.
I’m the newest employee in the group, and I’m only four months old. I was prepared that I might be laid off, but when I really received the notice, I was still a little surprised and unwilling. "On the 20th, I received a formal verbal notice from my superior leader. How to put it, I was a little surprised but prepared. It’s one thing to know that it really happened to me."
The company requires each department to reduce the labor cost by 30%. There are 16 people in my after-sales service department, which is divided into three sections. The department decided to cut one in each section, making a total of three cuts. I am the third. "I am the latest recruit in my section, and my work is relatively easy to hand over, so the company decided to dismiss me. This is the original words of our supervisor."
Layoff is only the first step. Starting from this month, the company will also reduce expenses by reducing employee performance, and everyone’s performance bonus will be reduced by 30%. "If one person can be laid off, the remaining employees don’t have to be reduced by 30% each. I don’t know exactly how much. It should be 10% to 20%."
It is understandable that the company has difficulties, but it is not easy for employees. If they voluntarily apply for resignation, the risks will actually be completely passed on to employees, and the rights and interests of employees will not be guaranteed. I have been in the company for less than a year, and I only hope to pay compensation for half a month’s basic salary.
"I talked to the supervisor, and he said it was not up to him to decide. Let me find someone, then I will find someone to negotiate again." There are dozens of people who are in the same situation as me. Up to now, I haven’t been able to wait for the company’s reply. "We have discussed it well. If it really doesn’t work, everyone can apply for labor arbitration together, and some can be compensated."
In fact, as early as years ago, I already saw some bad signs. "In December last year, many financial planners left their jobs, and some old and new employees left. I think it was caused by the big environment. It was not until the epidemic came that I found that small companies were so vulnerable to risks."
Today, I am still negotiating with the company and looking for new job opportunities. The recruitment market in Guangzhou is much more optimistic than I expected. I have submitted several resumes and am waiting for a reply.
"You only have two choices, agree or agree."
Narrator: Aiqi, an employee of the Guangzhou headquarters of famous products.
At about eleven o’clock on the evening of 21st, I received an email from the company "Proposal for Overcoming the Hard Times". The company proposed two initiatives: salary reduction and leave without pay, and gave employees two options of "agree" and "disagree". I clicked "disagree", but I couldn’t submit it.
"If you don’t agree with that proposal, a message will pop up asking you to send an email to HR mailbox. In fact, you can’t submit a disagreement." This is a proposal on the surface, but it is actually a notice, and employees have no choice.
That night, a dozen colleagues in my department and I didn’t make a choice. Some colleagues asked the person in charge of the personnel department what to do if the proposal was not agreed, and the reply was: I don’t know for the time being.
I have been working in the Guangzhou headquarters of famous products for more than a year, and even though I was affected by the epidemic, my work did not slack off at all. Since February 10th, I have been working from home. Later, the company implemented a shift system, and everyone went back to the office for one to two days.
Most of the company’s stores in China are franchised, and the store rent, store staff salaries and inventory are borne by franchisees. The company does not need to provide too much cash flow protection for this part of its main business. I hope to get a clearer explanation for the statement that the company has no cash flow.
It is understandable that the company has encountered difficulties in special periods, and the performance of the store will be affected in February, but it is unreasonable that the salaries in January and March, which have not yet started, are all reduced. In addition, the company did not discuss with employees, did not mention replacement and compensation measures, and unilaterally proposed to leave without pay, which was also not in line with legal procedures.
Originally, the wages of grass-roots employees were not high, and 30% of their wages were deducted from social security. How much is left? Leaving without pay is actually forcing you to leave in disguise. Our company has thousands of stores and tens of thousands of employees all over the country. I didn’t expect such a big company to be forced to retreat without compensation.
There is also a clause in the proposal that if the workload is not saturated, it will be discounted if the salary is reduced. To put it bluntly, the company has the final say, so I don’t know if the employees on the job will be treated improperly again.
Because I didn’t reply late on the evening of 21st, at about eleven o’clock on the morning of 22nd, HR called me and gave me two choices: 1. Leave my job by myself and work until the end of the month, and my salary will be paid in January and February; 2, leave without pay, pay 80% salary in January, 70% salary in February, and leave without pay in March. If you don’t reply before 2 pm, you will leave your job without pay by default.
This time, I still didn’t give an answer. Until the evening of 23rd, I received an announcement from the company’s WeChat, and the proposal on salary payment in January was adjusted and changed to normal payment.
This is good news, but I still can’t accept the result. I hope the company can give me a reasonable explanation for the "unreasonable" statement in the proposal.
(At the request of the interviewee, Zhao Peng, Jiang Weijian, Wang Qing, liujing, Zhou Yang, Xiaoju and Aiqi are pseudonyms.)
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