The year-end bonus broke my bone, and I wanted to leave

Shynrancaijing original

Author | Tang Yahua, Li Qiuhan, Wang Min, Zou Shuai

Edit | Wang Min

Now, it is the day when many Internet giants issue year-end bonuses. With the completion of communication and arrival of year-end bonuses in many large companies, the topic of "year-end bonus" has occupied the workplace social platform. However, unlike the "deep pockets" and "arrogance" of previous years, the year-end bonus has been mentioned in the past two years, and the most discussed by migrant workers is "a few discounts".

Affected by the macro environment, business operations and other factors, it seems that the shrinkage of the "year-end bonus" has become strange. Shen Ran chatted with several workers whose year-end bonuses had shrunk seriously about their experiences. Among them, some of them discounted the year-end bonus three times, and only 40% was handed out; Some people have reduced their salary from 3 months to half a month; Some people have changed from 2 months' salary to 0.6 months; others have not only not received a single point of nearly 100,000 year-end bonuses, but have also been laid off.

Originally, the year-end bonus was the company's incentive and management means, but from the perspective of the mental journey of these workers, after the year-end bonus was discounted, the shrinkage of the incentive directly led to the decline of work enthusiasm, and almost everyone considered the possibility of leaving and jumping jobs.

Some people restrain the impulse to leave their jobs after rational thinking, first focusing on stability, and slowly looking at opportunities; Someone has put it into action and has already started interviewing for an offer; There are also people who have always had negative emotions, even though they have no good choice, they have left their jobs directly; But some people feel that it is already very good that there are no layoffs and year-end bonuses.

Under the changes in the general environment, the Internet industry has also gone through a golden age. After the year-end bonus shrunk, migrant workers also had to continue to adapt to the new stage of Internet development.

Nearly 100,000 year-end bonuses were not obtained, and they were laid off

Speechless|30 years old Beijing, Internet practitioner

I have been with this company for more than three years, and the offer I gave at the interview was 15 salary, which means that there was a three-month year-end bonus by default. Of course, the year-end bonus is written in the labor contract, and the performance of each year should be referred to. In the past few years, I have done a good job, and I have received a A or B in performance, and I have received at least three months' salary for the year-end bonus.

In 2022, I also worked hard, the work given to me was completed, and my performance was still qualified by the middle of the year. In February 2023, we started evaluating year-end performance, and I was told that the performance was C, there was no year-end bonus, and I would be laid off, and the redundancy compensation was N+1. If my year-end bonus is calculated based on 3 months' salary, I lost nearly 100,000 yuan.

I can't accept performance to give me a C and not give me a year-end bonus. After all, I have done everything in 2022, the work has been completed according to the regulations, and if I am given a year-end bonus normally, I can accept the layoffs and leave.

The reason for performance C is very subjective, the leader told me that I am not active, not active, not rushing to work in my daily work, and also found some things in my work in the first half of 2022 as a reason, but my performance in the first half of the year is obviously qualified, and no leader in the whole of 2022 has talked to me to indicate where I am not doing well and need to improve. I think it's because the company wants to lay off employees, wants to save money without issuing year-end bonuses, and forced me to install a performance C.

And it's not the direct leader who talks to us about performance, but the leader of the direct leader, and usually there is not much direct work docking with us. For example, when he says a certain problem of mine, I immediately explain or refute it, and the other party will only say, "I'll remember this", and there is no response afterwards, which means that we have not been given the opportunity to appeal, and my direct leader has not appeared from beginning to end.

In previous years, there were also people with performance C, but there were very few, and this time there were dozens of them around me alone. And the company suddenly told us to talk about performance and layoffs, let us sign on the spot, let me leave within a week, did not give any buffer time, and required to complete the resignation before February 14, and even the social security in February was unwilling to pay us.

When they first heard the news, many people were confused and did not prepare to fight back before. There are also people who encounter this kind of thing for the first time, and they are induced to sign by various rhetoric, but even if they are not signed on the spot, there is no room for return.

I think the company's approach is to shoot arrows first and then draw targets, first determine the candidates for layoffs, and then find the reasons for unqualified performance on the corresponding people. If the company has to find fault, how can it not pick it out?

Many colleagues who have experienced similar situations are very angry about this incident, and the first thing I have to consider when looking for a job in the future is the virtue and stability of the company.

Year-end bonus 2 months changed to 0.6 months, "It's good if I wasn't laid off last year"

Wang Hao|27 years old, Hangzhou, manufacturing industry

Our company's performance is divided into S, A, B+, B, C a total of 5 levels, of which the first four levels correspond to 6 months, 4 months, 3 months, 2 months of monthly salary as the year-end bonus, C level probably does not have a year-end bonus, in general, everyone's performance will be concentrated between B +, B, few people will take C, that is, under the guarantee situation, the worst year-end bonus can also get 2 months' monthly salary.

However, in 2022, my year-end bonus shrank to only 0.6 months, a few thousand yuan, and there was nothing to win, and I lost nearly 30,000 yuan in income. The company did not communicate before the year-end bonus, and I learned that the year-end bonus was discounted after I got it.

My first reaction was that I was not an old employee, but as far as I know, there had never been such a situation before, and the gap from what I expected was too big. But the specific reason we can probably guess is that the benefits in 2022 are not good, so we have not delved into it.

I didn't work much for the year-end bonus, because we don't have expenses such as project bonuses, and even if some business in the department will affect the year-end bonus, it has little to do with personal efforts. But overall, my job performance is good. From the performance point of view, the guarantee should be able to get B+, maybe even A, so only such a little year-end bonus, I think it's a bit of a pit.

I originally planned to buy a wealth management product after receiving the year-end bonus, but with less money, less investment in financial management projects became less.

The shrinkage of the year-end bonus will affect my work status, and as soon as the year-end bonus is issued, I want to run. At present, there are many interviews and some offers, but some companies give it as well as the salary here.

I'm also a little hesitant. In our industry, the proportion of the year-end bonus in the annual salary is relatively weak, but the monthly salary will be higher, and the year-end bonus is a thing that can only be obtained after a full year, and it is also necessary to consider whether the intermediate company will lay off employees, so on the whole, it is okay to continue to stay here.

Looking back, you even think that it was good that there were no layoffs last year.

Just like Lu Xun said, "Chinese's temperament always likes to reconcile and compromise, for example, you say, this room is too dark, say open a skylight here, everyone must not be allowed." But if you advocate tearing down the roof, they will come and reconcile and be willing to open the skylight. "Although I am unhappy that the year-end bonus is less, I think that it is good to have a year-end bonus when I think that I have not been laid off.

The year-end bonus becomes a stock that can only be cashed out in four years, and I plan to "leave in spirit"

Rogers|31 years old, Internet factory programmer, Shenzhen

I just joined this large factory for a year, and the year-end bonus written in the contract when I joined was 0-5 months' salary, but when negotiating salary, the company said that the year-end bonus is generally 3 months, and it is also an annual package calculated according to the 3-month year-end bonus.

In the second half of last year, the company carried out a major layoff, when I was in the group, the whole group was cut to only me, and then I also changed the project team, and what I did before was difficult to count, which meant that I lost most of my performance for half a year. The CEO of the company also sent a letter to all employees, mentioning that the company will be difficult in 2022, and it is necessary to focus on cash flow, reduce expenses, and make profits first.

Therefore, I had psychological expectations for the poor performance appraisal at the end of the year and the year-end bonus may not be as expected, and I was still thinking that even if it was bad, a 5 discount and 1.5 months' salary, this result was barely acceptable.

By January this year, when the leader communicated the year-end performance rating and the year-end bonus, he told me that my performance appraisal rating was B, and the year-end bonus was only half a month's salary in cash, and employees who reached a certain level could not directly take cash, but had to obtain the year-end bonus in the form of stock. Although you can get double the amount of shares, they will be distributed over four years, and if you leave halfway, you may not get this money.

When I heard this final result, I was immediately deflated and instantly felt that I had no motivation to work. I could only take stocks, and the amount was close to 100,000 yuan less than the company's initial promise, far below my psychological expectations.

Communicating with colleagues around me, everyone is basically in a similar situation, and they are not very satisfied with this year-end bonus. Most of my colleagues' performance appraisals are B, and very few get A. Some colleagues left their jobs directly because they were not very satisfied with the year-end bonus, coupled with factors such as the salary inversion of the previous company's recruitment.

In the past, colleagues may take the initiative to explore and do some innovation to create more value on the basis of completing routine work. Now, the general environment is not good, the company's performance is not up, it is more difficult to grow profits, and there is no new direction for the bottom workers.

I also thought about whether to change the environment, but there are fewer opportunities in the market now, and I may be pressed down when I go out to find a job, so I still plan to stay in this company in 2023. My current state is like "mental resignation", just finish the work at hand, and no longer ask too much.

The performance did not meet the standard plus I was a newcomer, and the year-end bonus was discounted three times in a row

Elyce|22 years old, foreign-funded factory, Shanghai

At the beginning of February 2023, the leader came to us to talk collectively and informed that because the performance in 2022 did not meet the standard, everyone's year-end bonus would be discounted by 6, and then said that newcomers who had just joined the company for half a year would be discounted again, and finally because the rank should be calculated according to the lower rank, the year-end bonus would be discounted again.

Although the leader explained that the year-end bonus discount is caused by various factors such as the big environmental impact, it does not mean that we do not recognize our work performance. However, the boss was speaking in front of me and I stood there, tears rolling in my eyes.

When I joined the company, the company talked about that the annual salary was 14 salaries, which was equivalent to two months of the year-end bonus, but it was paid in two parts, and once in the middle of the year. This time, I originally thought that I could get a year-end bonus with one month's salary, but in the end, after three discounts, I only got about 40% of my expectations.

I just graduated with a salary of less than 10,000 yuan, and I chose this company because I could provide apartments and save a lot of rent costs, so although the salary base was relatively low, I finally accepted this offer.

Although the year-end bonus discount this time has no substantial impact on my life, I naturally feel very aggrieved and uncomfortable thinking that I have worked diligently for half a year, and the long-awaited small treasury funds are less than half.

For a while, I was in a relatively low mood, thinking about leaving directly. However, before taking the final step, I thought that I still have two projects on my hands, and if the project is not completed, it will be difficult to find the right one if I look for a job without project experience.

And now the environment is not good, after all, this company is still a head player in the vertical field, the work is relatively stable, whether the new job is stable is unknown, after rational thinking, I dismissed the idea of leaving directly.

Although I gave up my job in the short term, in the long term, I still want to change careers and plan to do foreign trade in the future.

Although the company is relatively stable at present, it has been slow to promote in this company. Veteran employees told me that after a year of work, the salary increase was only a few hundred yuan. Whether the year-end bonus in the middle of this year will be discounted, there is no answer now, according to my observation of the market, the company's performance target in the first half of the year may be difficult to achieve.

After the year-end bonus incident, I went on a business trip, and met a sister who was doing foreign trade and had more experience in the workplace, and her advice to me was also that she had entered the industry-leading factory, it was best to do one or two years, first accumulate professional ability, improve language ability at the same time, and then change careers when the preparation was almost ready.

After this business trip, I also came out of my low mood and decided to continue to work hard from the perspective of long-term development.

I think that the year-end bonus, although it is a twist and turn, has made me seriously think about my career development, and I can be regarded as growing up in ups and downs.

The year-end bonus is discounted by three times, and I hope the company can inform you in advance

66|27 years old Education and training industry North China

I've been working for the company for four years, and when I joined the company, I said there was no year-end bonus, which meant that there was no special money. But every year when we wrap up the meeting, we will evaluate the work performance and pay bonuses.

Later, when I was promoted, I realized that there was actually a formal year-end bonus evaluation when I entered the management. The first news I received was that the year-end bonus is based on performance, and at the beginning of each year we will discuss a task goal, and who will be responsible for it, whose year-end bonus will be linked to this. Employees at the executive level still pay bonuses as usual. Roughly speaking, the year-end bonus is calculated according to the percentage of task completion, and if 80% is completed, 80% of the money will be taken.

However, there are always some variables in this year-end bonus. Our evaluation criteria change every year, and sometimes the calculation method is a bit complicated, which should be combined with the company's business situation in the year. After 2021, our industry has undergone some adjustments, and although we have not been affected as much as other peers and left preschool business, it can be felt that the company is tightening its belts since then. The performance was not good, and the year-end bonus could not be given too much, and we all cut our salaries at one point.

Also, last year's situation was also special. Due to the epidemic, we have been suspended for a long time, the company has no income, and my salary is not as good as before. After the release at the end of the year, it is just in time to settle the year-end bonus. This time, no one informed us in advance how to measure the 2022 year-end bonus, but we notified it when it was sent. When I got my hands on it, it was no exaggeration to say that I felt like my world was collapsing, only a third of what it used to be, and not even a month's salary.

Objectively speaking, our business has not achieved the goals set at the beginning of the year, but because the overall performance is not good, I belong to the fold. The reason for the collapse is also that my task cannot be completed, and the market I am in has a lot to do with it, we are equivalent to starting the market from scratch, the difficulty is great, the epidemic blows, the impact is greater, but our performance evaluation, and other mature market colleagues, the standard is the same. So this made me very frustrated and helpless, feeling that I was passively accepting this discounted bonus.

In addition, the company did not inform me in advance about the discount and how to evaluate the year-end bonus for 2022, I received the money, I don't know so, I can only see the numbers. No matter how the company is doing, I can understand as long as I say hello in advance. When the industry was most confused in 2021, we also discussed the way out together, everyone understood the situation at that time, and was willing to cut salaries to accompany the company through the difficulties, I think this is a good communication and should be persistent.

I also expressed my thoughts to the leader, saying that it is true that the task in 2022 will not be completed well, but if these objective reasons cannot be changed in 2023, I can only leave. This year is also the last chance I give myself and the company.

*The title image and the accompanying picture in the text are from Visual China. At the request of the interviewee, Wuyan, Wang Hao, Rogers, Elyce, and Liuliu were pseudonyms in the text.