Spring Festival for couriers: It is difficult to recruit people with subsidies, and some people want to earn more without rest

Image source: @VisualChina

This year, 13 express logistics companies such as Jingdong, Zhongtong, Yuantong, and Debang launched the Spring Festival "non-closed" service, and many express brothers rushed on the road during the Spring Festival.

In this regard, the titanium media APP chatted with the express brother who celebrated the New Year on the spot. Couriers celebrating the New Year on the spot is not a simple slogan, behind the problems of express delivery companies encountering recruitment difficulties, courier subsidies landing, and improving the treatment of couriers. At the same time, express transit warehouse delivery, transit, transportation and other links must also keep up with the pace of the Spring Festival, so that consumers can truly feel the convenience of not closing during the Spring Festival and activate online consumption during the Spring Festival.

Subsidies are difficult to land

You Xiaogang is the person in charge of a franchisee outlet. He has been working in the express delivery industry for more than ten years. He said, "This year, all express delivery brands advocate celebrating the New Year in place. We wanted to have a better long-term cooperation with the courier company, so I decided not to go back this year. ”

This year is the third year that You Xiaogang celebrated the New Year in place, and in the previous two years he could not go home due to the epidemic, and this year he chose to celebrate the New Year in place because of work.

"This year is the second year that the Spring Festival has not closed, and although the workload is almost two-thirds less than usual, it is more than double that of last year's Spring Festival. I believe that the Spring Festival will definitely happen every year from now on. In previous years, express delivery companies did not close for the Spring Festival, and the Spring Festival was closed. This year there are twice as many goods as last year. I believe that next year and the year after that, the express brother will not rest for the Spring Festival. ”

According to You Xiaogang, Beijing only began to advocate that the Spring Festival not close last year, but the effect in the first year was not good, the daily volume of goods was not much, every day was idle, and many things were not in place. This year is the second year that the Spring Festival is not closed, and the announcements of various brand companies are very high-profile, and the volume of goods is more, but the income of couriers is still not good.

"Just blindly ask the express company not to close for the Spring Festival, and the express company can only send the pressure to the courier or the express station." But the dispatch price is still the usual and may be slightly higher. I said that the subsidy was 100 yuan a day, but I don't know when the 100 yuan will be in place. Last year, there was also a subsidy, but in the end, it was not done. This year, it was also announced that the Spring Festival would not close, but all aspects were not arranged in place, and I don't know if it can be implemented. You Xiaogang said to the titanium media APP worriedly.

It is understood that at the outlet where You Xiaogang is located, during the Spring Festival, a courier brother's daily salary is expected to be about three or four hundred yuan, which is similar to usual.

You Xiaogang said that there is no other pressure now, that is, it is difficult to retain people. There is always a plot in China, all about wanting to go home for the Chinese New Year. But the courier brother who stayed behind has no guarantee, especially for part-time positions. I earn two or three hundred yuan a day, or even three or four hundred yuan, and sometimes only 100 yuan a subsidy. With this kind of income, it is difficult to retain people.

"If this is the case, the subsidy is not in place, the funds are not guaranteed, many express brothers will not work, and the goods will increase, forming a vicious circle, and it will only become more and more difficult not to close during the Spring Festival."

Like You Xiaogang, who chose to celebrate the New Year in place, the first day of the new year was much earlier than the usual time to leave work, and he had a video call with his family who was thousands of miles away for the first time. The family expressed their support and understanding of his choice.

For the past year, You Xiaogang used "not in 2022" to describe it. According to him, business difficulties in March, May, June and November due to the epidemic. After the turn around in December, the courier brother was positive and unable to work, "did not make money", and is still in a loss-making state.

For the new year, he said, "I hope the epidemic gets better, as long as the family is safe." ”

I want to earn more without rest

"I couldn't go back before, but this year I can't go back because of the work requirements."

Shi Changnan is the webmaster of Cainiao Pudong Dongjing Station, No. 41, Lane 1900, Dongjing Road, Shanghai.

"The workload is not as much as usual, but it is much more than last year, and the previous New Year was not as much as these two days. This year people were retained according to the company's requirements. In normal times, Shi Changnan's station has 15 couriers, but this year, half of them were left on the spot for the New Year, about seven or eight, "one person doing the work of two people and two districts."

For Shi Changnan, this year's couriers' income during the New Year will be a little higher than in previous years, and "the government and the company have subsidies."

It is understood that the government's subsidies have been in place in the early stage, and the company's subsidies will only be issued after the work is completed. There are also many forms of subsidies, including unit price subsidies, bonus subsidies, etc.

"It used to be a single piece, now it's one single or two pieces, doubled. In the past year, because of the epidemic, construction has not started for several months, and there is only a basic salary of 3,000 yuan. However, after Double 11, the volume of goods has remained in a state of high water. After that, the income also slowly came up. Now the average income of couriers on my side is about 10,000 yuan. ”

"However, despite this, it is still a little difficult to recruit people." Shi Changnan said to the titanium media APP, "In order to recruit people, the company has also issued a policy to recruit a person, and the person who recruits also has subsidies." ”

At present, during the Spring Festival, the workload is relatively relaxed, and Shi Changnan and his friends will leave work early on the first day of the new year.

According to Shi Changnan, some couriers choose to celebrate the New Year in place, hoping to take advantage of the festival to make more money. "We are on a piece-rate basis, and if you don't go to work, you don't have money. Older couriers are generally reluctant to rest. ”

This year's New Year, Shi Changnan received a gift box of dried fruits issued by the company. For Chinese New Year's Eve rice, Shi Changnan said that because in Shanghai, shopping is very convenient. We will also have Hema gift certificates issued by the company on DingTalk, and we usually go there in the morning to buy some vegetable meat.

For the new year, Shi Changnan hopes to do a good job. "We send express deliveries here, as long as there are many people, there is no problem." Shi Changnan said, "In the past, I had encountered wage arrears in other companies, but now there will be no wage arrears, which is good." ”

The whole family celebrates the New Year "differently"

Yang Yanyan, 32, and her husband work at ZTO Express Shanghai Xuhui South Station outlet, and this year is also the third year of their local New Year's Eve.

Yang Yanyan's family has an 11-year-old son, an 8-year-old daughter, and two elderly people, and after deciding to celebrate the holiday in place, Yang Yanyan took all her family from Shanxi to Shanghai.

"Our husband and wife stayed on duty, and colleagues from far away could go back first. We can pick up our children from our hometown of Yancheng, Shanxi, so that the outlets will also have people deliver them during the Spring Festival, and the children can also come to Shanghai to feel the taste of Shanghai. Yang Yanyan said.

According to her, this is the first time the family has celebrated the Chinese New Year in Shanghai. It is understood that there are more than 50 salesmen in the Shanghai Xuhui South Station outlet, because of the lack of manpower in the outlets, leaving nearly half of the salesmen to choose to celebrate the New Year on the spot to ensure express delivery.

Yang Yanyan said, "Since entering January, it has been busy at 6 o'clock every day, and the peak of the annual goods is about 300-400 pieces per day in December, and since this week, the daily delivery volume has reached almost 500-600 pieces." The shipment volume of medicines has passed its peak, and now half of them are New Year-related gifts, such as fruits, fresh gift boxes, nut gift boxes, flowers and plants, clothes, etc. ”

"500 or 600 pieces a day is a little harder than before, but if we work a little more, we can quickly deliver the New Year goods to the citizens, and everyone can also spend the reunion year with peace of mind."

It is understood that because of the arrival of the child, Zhang Yanyan's husband has made sufficient preparations and travel strategies, ready to take the child to Disney, Safari Park and other places, so that they can feel the taste of Shanghai.

For the new year, Yang Yanyan said that she hopes to be healthy, have more time to accompany her children, and do her job well.

This year is the second year that the express Spring Festival is not closed, and in the context of the courier celebrating the New Year on the spot, it ensures express delivery and material demand, which brings convenience to many consumers. This is inseparable from the efforts of couriers and courier companies.

According to the content of the special scheduling meeting on the guarantee of delivery services during the Spring Festival held by the State Post Bureau, it is necessary to ensure that the postal express network is basically smooth, and urge postal enterprises to continue to ensure universal postal services during the Spring Festival; Guide express delivery enterprises to reasonably promise service matters during the Spring Festival according to the actual delivery needs of different regions, announce operation plans in advance, coordinate the transportation capacity resources of the entire network, and ensure the effective operation of the network.

At the same time, many express delivery companies have introduced various subsidy policies for couriers.

It is understood that Shentong Express will continue to maintain the normal services of collection, transportation, transshipment, delivery, market and customer service on the whole network from January 19 to 24, 2023. Deppon Express is more than 5,000 directly operated outlets and will operate normally during the Spring Festival. ZTO has set up a special team, set up on-the-job subsidies, strengthened personnel recruitment, and allocated transportation capacity from all parties. In order to encourage employees to return home at different peaks, SF set up a "special incentive package" for employees who stayed on duty during the Spring Festival. JD Logistics continued to implement the "I celebrate the New Year on JD.com" and issued child reunion subsidies to employees who celebrated the New Year in place.

This is not only a concern for couriers, but also a measure to polish the signboard of express delivery companies when recruiting people in the case of "difficulty in recruiting".

In addition, there is still a lot of work to be done on how to let consumers truly feel the convenience of not closing during the Spring Festival. "A week ago, I bought two boxes of fruit online and prepared to eat them during the Spring Festival, but after so many days, they have not yet been shipped. The first two days urged the customer service, but the customer service was only shirked, and the merchant customer service did not have any notice. Yang Jing said to the titanium media APP.

The Spring Festival of terminal distribution is not closed, but all aspects of goods distribution, transportation, transit and other links need to be fully prepared. Do a good job of normal operation. As express expert Zhao Xiaomin said, "During the Spring Festival, the service cannot be lower than the daily service standard, and the employee protection must also keep up." ”

At present, the quality of express delivery services has become the core competition point of various express delivery enterprises. "Spring Festival file" is no longer a "noun" belonging to the film industry, but will also become the norm for various express delivery companies and express brothers. How to achieve collaborative optimization, cost reduction and efficiency improvement in the whole link from Spring Festival preparation to distribution through intelligent algorithms and data prediction is a new topic facing express delivery enterprises.

(Author| Yang Xiujuan)