The daily salary of 1,000 yuan remained, and the Spring Festival express was still not delivered

Shynrancaijing original

Author | Tang Yahua

Edit the | dawn

"I can also receive express delivery during the New Year, and I really love the merchants and couriers who do not have a holiday during the Spring Festival", "The flowers I bought arrived at the site on the first day of the first year, but they were not delivered, and they were not delivered until after the sixth day of the first year"...

This Spring Festival, many people received express delivery as usual, and many people complained that the express card was not delivered at the site. Some netizens came out to explain: "The express Spring Festival does not close, in fact, it only means that the transfer station does not rest, whether you can send express delivery to receive express, depends on whether the network near your home is closed." ”

On the eve of the Spring Festival in 2023, the daily salary of 1,000 yuan will recruit courier brothers, and the news of retaining couriers with high salaries continues to spread. In order to leave the express brother, the express companies and franchised outlets have made every effort: the most basic operation is to double the delivery fee, usually 1 yuan / order, the Spring Festival is increased to 2 yuan, and further incentives are that many companies give cash subsidies ranging from 1000 yuan to 3000 yuan, as well as full attendance rewards, reaching a certain number of orders to give additional rewards, and more companies have launched a New Year activity to pick up family members, as long as there are family members to the city where the express brother is located, you can get 3500 yuan subsidy.

Rough estimates, in about 10 days before and after the Spring Festival, the express brother can get a daily salary of 1,000 yuan, a total income of tens of thousands of yuan. Even so, the vast majority of courier brothers still choose to go home. The reason is also very simple, "I didn't go home because of the epidemic in the first two years, and I have to go back anyway this year", "There are old and young people in the family, as the pillar of the family, I must go back", "I'm tired for a year, I want to rest", "I can earn money at any time"...

Going home during the Spring Festival is a very delicate thing, as some netizens said, "How excited you are before going home, how boring you are after going home, but you just want to go home, even if you don't do anything, just go back and look at it and come back." ”

The express brother was reluctant, and the express franchise outlets were also aggrieved. Usually, the profit of the outlet is thin, the delivery fee is doubled, and the outlet loses a few cents if it sends a single order, and a loss of more than one yuan. But if the pay is not improved, no one wants to be on duty.

Employing and retaining people has always been a big problem in the express delivery industry, and every Double 11 and Spring Festival, the topic of high-salary recruitment will appear. To solve this problem, the express delivery industry and even the whole society need to do a lot more.

"A thousand yuan a day, I still want to go home"

The courier of a branch of ZTO Express in Beijing has been working in the express delivery industry for five or six years, and he is a veteran, delivering an average of three to four hundred orders a day. There are fifty or sixty delivery brothers in the outlet where Qiang Qiang is located, and about 10 people are left on duty this Spring Festival. Usually the delivery fee is 1 yuan a ticket (single), the distribution fee is doubled during the Spring Festival, 2 yuan a ticket, an additional 2,000 yuan subsidy, if the Spring Festival is on duty, you can also take 7 days of paid annual leave after the year.

Qiang Qiang said that if you want to earn more money during the Spring Festival, you can also take other people's work after sending your own orders, and you can also help people send a single order or two yuan, and even take over the work of other outlets, "I have been in this industry for a long time, the business is very familiar, as long as I am willing to send, there are many orders." Generally, those who stay on duty are veterans, and most areas can run. ”

Beijing Dada Express sent the little brother Lixin told Deep Burn that he is in a crowdsourcing business, which is a part-time job, and the benefits given by the 2023 Spring Festival duty are to go to the site every day to punch in to give a subsidy of 50 yuan, and the delivery fee per order has increased from 1 yuan to 2 yuan, 10 days before and after the Spring Festival, more than 160 orders are delivered every day, and then 1,000 yuan are rewarded, in addition to bringing children to Beijing for the New Year, the headquarters has a one-time subsidy of 3,500 yuan.

Lixin sends about 200 orders a day, according to this amount, the dispatch fee earns about 400 yuan per day, and more than three pieces are collected, and each person has 20-50 yuan per day, adding up to an average daily income of about 500 yuan. "Together with a family subsidy of 3,500 yuan, a reward of 1,000 yuan, and a clock-in subsidy of 500 yuan (calculated on a ten-day basis), this is 5,000 yuan, which can basically achieve a daily salary of 1,000 yuan."

At the end of the year, he noticed that many couriers took their children to Beijing for a few days, some stayed here to celebrate the New Year together, and some went back after playing.

SF courier Chestnut mentioned that the Spring Festival duty rule of their outlets is that the first three days of five times the salary, the last four days three times the salary, the receipt commission is relatively high, about a single can be 10 yuan, usually can only mention two or three pieces, part of the premium subsidy of the express fee during the Spring Festival is given to the express brother.

The naked eye can earn a thousand yuan a day, and you can earn more than 10,000 yuan during the Spring Festival, but most couriers who communicate with Shen Ran still want to go home.

"Eighty or ninety percent of the people are coming home this year, and I don't want to keep them. I haven't been home for three years, I usually don't rest, I'm tired for a year, I take advantage of the Spring Festival to take a break, and although the daily salary is high, only 7 days, that is, I earn a few thousand yuan more. Chestnut said.

Qiang Qiang mentioned that last year because of the epidemic, there were fewer people going home, there was no shortage of manpower, the subsidy was 1,000 yuan, and the benefits were not as good as this year. Despite this, he chose to go home for the New Year, and left on the twenty-eighth of the month, "I have children at home, and I didn't go back last year and the year before that, and I have to go back this year anyway." ”

Li Xin has not returned to his hometown for three years, and his family wants him to go back, and he has been urging him for years. And in his opinion, the express industry, want to earn more money usually, he sometimes delivered at 11:30 in the morning, three o'clock in the afternoon to pick up some, four or five o'clock will be delivered, if you want to make more money, you can take more to send a whole day, not bad Spring Festival these days. "Money can't be earned, you still have to go home."

Of course, since the express delivery industry is pushing the Spring Festival non-closing activities, some people go home, and there must be people who need to stick to it.

The courier brother of a Jingdong outlet in Beijing has to stay on duty, and this quota is decided by drawing lots, because everyone wants to go home. As the person who was selected, he was helpless, but there was no way, he could only expect to make more money, and then take a break when the personnel were in place.

The courier brother of a certain outlet of Deppon Express claimed that he stayed because he did not plan to go home in the first place, so he stayed on duty.

A courier at a Yunda Express outlet told Shen Ran that the delivery fee for the Spring Festival duty at their outlet was 50% higher, and there was a red envelope of about 2,000 yuan, which could earn almost five or six thousand yuan during the Spring Festival. There are usually about twenty people in the outlet, and four or five are left on duty during the Spring Festival.

However, he did not stay entirely to make more money, "I stayed voluntarily, I have not yet 'yang', my family is not yet 'yang', the people on the road are complicated, I am a little worried about infection, and I am afraid of bringing the virus to my family." In addition, I am single, and I don't have much to do when I go back. Since you don't plan to go home, you can do it if you have work. ”

"If you lose a dollar, you have to bite the bullet"

Opening a daily salary of 1,000 yuan may not necessarily retain the express brother, in fact, express delivery outlets face such high salary pressure is also very large.

Zhang Wenyuan, the person in charge of a Tongda franchise outlet in Shanghai, said that the Spring Festival non-closing activity was conveyed by the company's headquarters, and the franchised network needed to be completed as much as possible.

Retaining salespeople is nothing more than raising wages and benefits. The practice of their outlets is that from the 29th day of the lunar month to the sixth day of the first lunar month, the distribution fee is doubled, usually 1.5 yuan / order, and 3 yuan / single during the Spring Festival; At the same time, the Shanghai government gives subsidies of 150 yuan per courier / day; In addition, the courier clocks in every day to ensure that there will be a subsidy of 100 yuan for attendance, and can also draw Spring Festival red envelopes, up to 2,000 yuan. According to the delivery volume of 200 votes per day, the income of the little brother is about 1,000 yuan per day.

Zhang Wenyuan recognized that the express Spring Festival does not close activities, because in a city like Shanghai, clothing, food, housing and transportation are almost inseparable from foreigners, if the Spring Festival foreigners return to their hometowns, the city may be "paralyzed", especially in people's livelihood industries such as express delivery.

But how to let the express brother stay, it is a headache for him. "The Spring Festival is different from other festivals, the express brother usually has almost no rest all year round except for illness, many people have parents and children at home, they want to go home at this time, it is said that 1,000 yuan a day is not low, but many people have earned money for a year, and they don't care about these seven days."

After Zhang Wenyuan announced that the Spring Festival would not close, no courier brother took the initiative to ask to stay on duty, and later he talked to everyone alone, promising to wait for others to come after the seventh day of junior high school and there were enough people, so he let the person on duty go back to rest for about ten days, plus he usually had a good relationship with everyone, and only then convinced some people.

He has 42 people at the outlet, and 14 people are on duty this time. "I haven't been home for the Chinese New Year for three years, so I have no choice but to set an example myself." He said.

Retained the express brother to ensure healthy operation during the Spring Festival, but the outlet was not happy. "In addition to the subsidy of the headquarters, the cost of the delivery fee is borne by the outlet, in fact, the income of a single to our outlet is less than 2 yuan, the usual delivery fee is 1.5 yuan / order, leaving less than 5 cents of profit to the outlet, the delivery fee of 3 yuan a single during the Spring Festival, the outlet does not make money, not to mention, but also to post more than 1 yuan."

Zhang Wenyuan said that if the express delivery network does not close during the Spring Festival, it will definitely be a loss, and it can only be maintained by losses. "Fortunately, it is not long, after all, a lot of investment has been invested in the construction of the outlet, and the business still has to continue, so as not to stop working because of the loss in a special period."

However, the work during the Spring Festival is not very easy. Zhang Wenyuan noticed that in the ten or so days before the Spring Festival, local residents began to purchase daily necessities on a large scale, and there were many large items such as full boxes of fruits and New Year goods, and they had to make several more trips than usual. In addition, many couriers who are far away go home three or four days in advance, and their daily orders have to be shared and delivered by others, which is not a small pressure.

"Last year, on the first day of the new year, I had a total of 1,600 votes here, and this year it is similar, a courier sends about 200 pieces a day, but one person sends a district every day, and now most people go home, one person has to bear the area of three or four people, the scope is large, and it is also very tiring." Zhang Wenyuan said.

There are also express delivery outlets, because the Spring Festival can't keep people, and it's a holiday directly.

Just arrived on the twentieth day of La Yue, Yuan Yuan, who lived in Tongzhou District, Beijing, found that some of the express deliveries had not been received, and one of them obviously arrived at the outlet near his home and returned it to the merchant, and Yuan Yuan asked the merchant to learn that it was because the outlet could not deliver.

Later, Yuanyuan contacted a courier brother at the site, the other party said that he had stopped working, no one delivered because the express cabinet near the area was not enough, the delivery needed to climb the building, the express brother delivered slowly, there were many complaints, resulting in a lot of fines, there was no time to rest, and everyone was not very willing to continue to work.

It can be seen that even if the express delivery network endures the pain of giving high salary, it is still difficult to retain the express brother during the Spring Festival and let the consumer's experience not be compromised.

Logistics industry expert Yang Daqing analyzed that the original intention of the express Spring Festival is to take advantage of the Spring Festival to improve brand goodwill and enhance user stickiness, but the Spring Festival in the Year of the Rabbit is the first Spring Festival to return to normal in three years of the epidemic, and logistics practitioners return to their hometowns, so that the general arrival rate of express delivery companies is insufficient, and trunk transportation and terminal distribution are shrinking in manpower and capacity guarantee. In addition, the reduced demand during the Spring Festival has made the pickup and delivery of some outlets unbalanced, and for some franchised express outlets that "pick up less and send more", the enthusiasm to maintain normal operation is not high.

Why is it so difficult to keep people by courier?

A number of industry insiders believe that the non-closing of the express Spring Festival is mainly to meet the needs of the people to purchase New Year goods and gift delivery through e-commerce, and at the same time, this importance lies not only in the needs of the people for express delivery services themselves, but also in the need for trust and emotional dependence on express delivery services since the epidemic.

"I may not use the express delivery service provided during the Spring Festival, but if I am told that there is no express service provided, I will definitely panic", representing the voice of many users.

Wang Yong, an expert in the express delivery industry, said that the non-closing activity of the express Spring Festival reflects a new round of service quality competition launched by express companies after the price war, and express delivery companies that can meet the demand at this time can better seize the opportunity to improve user reputation and market share. As the main carrier of the "first kilometer" and "last mile", express delivery companies are the carriers of the normal operation of the whole chain of the supply chain, and the realization of "no closure during the Spring Festival" has reassured the market and consumers, and also added a fire to the Spring Festival consumption boom.

"Nowadays, people have regarded express delivery as a basic social service, a people's livelihood security service, and a service that is inseparable from daily life, which is the embodiment of the characteristics of the express delivery industry to serve people's livelihood." Zhang Nan, a senior express delivery industry expert, said.

Despite the loss, for the outlets, the incentive measures not only guarantee the service during the Spring Festival, but also solve the problem of resuming work after the holiday to cope with the orders after the year.

Yang Daqing analyzed that from the performance of various companies in the industry, China Post, SF Express, Jingdong Express and other direct-operated express delivery companies directly subsidize the end manpower, etc., and have outstanding comparative advantages in ensuring that they do not close. In addition, some franchised express delivery companies in first- and second-tier cities can also achieve non-closure by coordinating human transportation resources.

As for increasing the salary and benefits of express delivery brothers during the Spring Festival, express delivery companies are implementing national laws and regulations on the one hand, and on the other hand, they also want to use incentives to retain couriers.

"The express Spring Festival does not close, and it cannot be achieved by excessively sacrificing the legitimate and reasonable rights and interests of the express brother. Many express brothers are almost all year round, the work intensity is very large, and affected by the epidemic, a considerable number of express brothers have not returned home for reunions during the Spring Festival for many years, and they should be given enough care from the perspective of material and humanities. Wang Yong said.

Even if the daily salary is given thousands of yuan on large festivals, there is still a very shortage of express brothers in the industry. Zhang Nan pointed out that in fact, not only during the Spring Festival, from the perspective of long-term economic and social development, the ebb of labor dividends is an inevitable phenomenon, and the number of express brothers is bound to be short of the total amount for the demand for express business development.

Of course, there are many reasons: for example, the integration of migrant workers in different places (household registration, housing, children's schooling, living costs, etc.), the income and treatment of express brothers, welfare security issues, social status and image problems, working environment and labor intensity problems need to be improved and improved. "In recent years, the State Post Bureau and the China Express Association have been actively taking various measures to strengthen the care and care for the express brother, and also hope that all sectors of society will pay attention to and care for the express brother group." Zhang Nan appealed.

The lack of personnel in the express delivery industry in recent years is the norm. Zhang Wenyuan began to recruit people in June 2022, and no one has been recruited by January 2023. In his opinion, the very important reason is that the industry rules are not perfect, and there are no protective measures for the express brother, such as losing the piece and having to pay for it. "During the Spring Festival in 2022, we sent the little brother to the customer's door for two pieces, and the other party said that he did not receive it, and the little brother lost 6,000 yuan."

Coupled with the fact that the express brother who comes to the big city from abroad is discriminated against from time to time and cannot get an identity, there are many things in this type, and the little brother with a bad mentality is unwilling to do it. "In fact, as long as you are willing to endure hardships, express delivery income is much better than the factory, the old salesman of our outlet can earn nearly 20,000 yuan a month, and this line is technical, an area is familiar with at least half a month, temporary replacement speed is slow and easy to lose, once there is a shortage of people It is difficult to find temporary workers to replace," Zhang Wenyuan said, "To alleviate the shortage of express brothers, what is needed is the guarantee of industry rules and social respect." ”

Wang Yong believes that in addition to subsidies, it is also necessary to increase job rotation, job promotion, and welfare improvement, and at the same time, express delivery companies and outlets should intervene and prepare early to increase localized short-term employment and temporary employment. In addition, it is necessary for the entire express delivery industry to make reasonable optimization to alleviate the pressure of express delivery outlets and couriers, and substantially improve the difficult situation of different links.

When the profession of courier is respected enough, the shortage of people in the express delivery industry may be truly alleviated.

*The title image and the accompanying picture in the text are from Visual China. At the request of the interviewees, Qiangqiang, Lixin, Lizi, Yuanyuan, Zhang Wenyuan, and Zhang Nan are pseudonyms in the text.