Is it better to build a car than to deliver food? Can't jump out of the factory assembly line, young people can do "worry about becoming wasted"

Source of this article: Times Finance Author: Liao Wei

"When the times abandon you, they won't say hello to you." One of the hottest lines in the Internet age is now most appropriately used in the automotive industry. With the development of the national economy, a variety of high-paying occupations have emerged, and the front-line general workers in car manufacturing factories, which were originally regarded as decent jobs by the older generation of workers, and even the traditional automobile research and development engineers who were once known as the "son-in-law of the nation" are no longer the first choice of most job seekers.

"Many young people choose to send takeaways and express delivery, and are reluctant to enter the factory as industrial workers, resulting in difficulties in recruiting workers in the manufacturing industry, and it is recommended to encourage young people to send less takeaways and more factories." During the two sessions of the National People's Congress, Zhang Xinghai, a deputy to the National People's Congress and chairman of the Xiaokang Group, said in an interview with the media.

As soon as the above remarks came out, they triggered heated discussions in public opinion. Many netizens posted, "Entering the factory is not free, the working hours are still long, the salary is low, who wants to go?" "If the factory has a double holiday and an eight-hour working day, and the salary is higher than that of delivering takeaways, of course everyone will enter the factory" "Whoever made the suggestion, please send his children to the factory workshop to experience it"...

According to the 100 occupations in the four quarters of 2021 released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, lathes, welders and automotive production line operators are in short supply throughout the year, of which lathe workers and automotive production line operators once entered the top ten of the "most lacking workers" occupations.

"Talents don't necessarily have to go into the factory, some have to be workers, some want to design, some do research and development, and some do others." For the above suggestions, an executive of a new energy vehicle company recently did not agree with the interview of Times Finance, but admitted frankly, "The company's current demand for front-line technicians and blue-collar workers is relatively large. Another car company insider told Times Finance that "since the transformation of automobile electrification, the loss rate of front-line workers in traditional car companies has been higher than in previous years."

Escape from the assembly line: afraid of becoming a waste

"The work intensity is too high, and the duration is also long, generally about 13 hours, and you often stay up all night to work the night shift, and there is too little rest time every month." Zhang Li, a first-line production worker of a car company, is not satisfied with his current work, "the promotion space is too small, even if it is very difficult to bear hardships, it is difficult to go into the office to work, and it is impossible to jump out of the circle of the assembly line."

"If you put it twenty years ago, it might have been a decent thing to work as a worker on the assembly line of a car company, but now it's not." Zhang Li complained, "Our work is also very disgraceful to say now, tired and angry, the work is to repeat the same steps, it is difficult to learn other skills, there is no future, and we can't make any money, and we can't survive thousands of yuan a month."

According to times finance and economics, the salary composition of front-line operators in general automobile factories is roughly "basic salary + performance + overtime pay + night shift fee + high temperature subsidy, etc.", and some enterprises with better benefits will have half-year bonuses and year-end bonuses, and the average comprehensive monthly wage of operators is about 5,000 yuan.

According to the "2021 Key Industry Salary Trend Guide - Manufacturing Industry" released by CIIC Consulting, from the perspective of salary structure, the proportion of annual fixed income, annual change income and annual overtime pay of front-line ordinary blue-collar workers is 65.5%, 18.2% and 16.3%, respectively. Among the front-line employees, the total annual cash income of technicians, technicians and operators is 103,000 yuan, 69,000 yuan and 61,000 yuan respectively, and the 50th quantile is 142,000 yuan, 99,000 yuan and 71,000 yuan, respectively.

"The factory is basically in the suburbs or industrial park, and the employees' daily life may be a little boring." Because it is a production general worker, there is no requirement for employees' academic qualifications, but they must be under 42 years old and in good health. Li Hong, an insider of Sichuan Human Resources Company, told Times Finance that "the factory will distribute a lot of supplies and union benefits for free, and there are annual physical examinations and insurance."

Li Hong's company for a number of state-owned enterprises, central enterprises under the automobile plant, parts factory services, most of the car companies they currently provide front-line operator positions, are labor dispatch, the entire company only a very small number of high-level staff have a staff, the promotion channels of workers are basically closed, can only be transferred between the workshop assembly line. After entering the factory, candidates need to be probationary for 1 to 3 months, and they are regular employees after passing the assessment. The salary during the probationary period is about 4500 yuan to 5600 yuan.

"In the manufacturing industry, the turnover rate on the front line is quite high, so we are recruiting for them almost all year round." Li Hong said, "Wheel hub production enterprises and vehicle factories part of the position is particularly difficult to recruit, although the working environment is OK, but it will be more difficult, workers need to stand in a high temperature environment for a long time, the work content physical requirements are relatively high, so generally do a day off two days." Even if the salary of this part of the post can reach 8,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan, and the comprehensive can be more than 100,000 yuan a year, it is still in a state of shortage for a long time."

Most front-line employees will work in assembly line factories called eating youth rice, and repeating the same action in the front-line mechanically all year round is not only easy to lose interest in the work, but also makes it difficult for them to learn more skills on the job.

"I graduated from secondary school at the age of 18 and entered the workshop for three years, and have been on the assembly line. The workshop implements the 'black and white shift' system (going to work at 8 o'clock in the morning and leaving at 8 o'clock in the evening, or going to work at 8 o'clock in the evening and leaving at 8 o'clock in the morning), and working once every half a month. Zhong Qiang is an employee of a self-owned brand manufacturing plant, he is tired of his current mechanical work, "day after day, year after year, long shifts and staying up late, let me look older than my peers, others now think I am 27, 28, but I am less than 22 years old."

Zhong Qiang, who has been working in the assembly line for a long time, wants to escape from the factory, he has now accumulated 150,000 yuan, wants to go back to his hometown to buy a house and get married, but he feels that he can't find the purpose and meaning of life, "Staying in the factory for 3 years is actually a little comfortable, I am afraid of this feeling, if I stay for a long time, I am afraid that I will become a waste."

What is the solution to the problem of labor shortage in manufacturing?

"On the one hand, the reason is that labor costs have risen, especially due to the impact of the epidemic, and the company's own operation has been hindered, which has reduced the ability to absorb employment to a certain extent."

In the face of the current situation of difficult recruitment in the manufacturing industry, Zhang Xinghai suggested that the government further increase employment support, including sending policies, funds and industrial workers to enterprises to make manufacturing jobs more attractive. In terms of policy support for enterprises to absorb more employment, Zhang Xinghai suggested that for the year-on-year increase in employed personnel and enterprises, support will be given from the aspects of individual tax reduction, settlement, housing, reduction of social security payment ratio and special fund support; for enterprises that do not reduce staff and do not lay off employees, special funds are given encouragement and support.

However, some insiders said that the manufacturing industry is too hard, many positions are basically to exchange life for money, and it is difficult to attract young people back to the manufacturing industry and workshops with only a slight increase in wages. Zhang Li complained that in the factory is extremely unfree, there are too many rules, and now there are more choices outside, why waste time inside the workshop. Now although it is also very hard to deliver takeaways and couriers, I am more reluctant to be in the workshop in comparison.

Xia Yibing, director of the Guangdong Employment Service Administration, said in an interview, "On the one hand, it is because the profit margins of labor-intensive enterprises are relatively small and the work level is unattractive." On the other hand, because the new generation of workers, their expectations are relatively high, more selective, more willing to work in the more flexible working hours of the mall service industry is relatively large, the income is relatively high, the threshold is relatively low, less willing to engage in high-load traditional manufacturing."

According to the "2021 Key Industry Salary Trend Guide - Manufacturing Industry" released by CIIC Consulting, the average rate of active employee turnover in the manufacturing industry in the past five years has been above 17% all year round, of which even as high as 22.6% in 2018. Among different types of employees, the turnover rate of front-line employees will be as high as 29.4% in 2020, far exceeding the turnover rate of less than 17% of functional personnel, R&D technology, and management.

According to the 2022 Blue Rider Development and Security Report released by Ele.me, 1.14 million riders will earn a steady income through the platform in 2021. Takeaway delivery has become a stepping stone for many migrant workers to take root in the city, with 7% of knights making it their "first job" to step into society, and more than 40% of knights want to run takeaways while looking for other job opportunities to stay in the city. Due to the relatively free time of receiving orders, delivery of takeaways has also become a side business choice for workers in new formats. 37% of delivery workers said they had their own jobs, and 36% said they had other odd jobs.

Workers Daily recently pointed out that different eras will produce different jobs, young people in different eras will have different career pursuits, and there will be different definitions of a better job. The improvement of salary and treatment, the improvement of working conditions, the improvement of labor security, and the expansion of talent space are all important factors that can effectively enhance the attractiveness of the manufacturing industry. Only when young people feel that it is a decent thing to enter the factory as workers, especially skilled workers, can they fundamentally solve the problem of labor shortage in manufacturing.

For solving the problem of labor shortage in the manufacturing industry, Yang Guoqiang, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the board of directors of Country Garden Group, recently submitted the "Proposal on Accelerating the Application of Intelligent Construction Product Technology, Helping the "Double Carbon" Goal, and Promoting the High-quality Development of the Construction Industry", which proposes to vigorously support the promotion and application of construction robots and intelligent construction equipment.

According to media reports, there is a notice board in the factory opening that shows, "Our team has a group of robots to support, they can weld, rivet and glue auto parts." With its high accuracy and fast movement, it takes only 45 seconds to produce a Model Y body."