Waterdrop Chips is an Internet platform whose main business is fundraising for serious diseases, and since its establishment in 2016, it has helped millions of patients raise tens of billions of yuan in relief funds. However, recently, some netizens broke the news that Waterdrop's parent company Waterdrop began to implement a new round of salary cuts and layoffs in October (the sixth round of layoffs this year), and forced employees to sign salary reduction agreements, with a salary reduction ratio of about 15%. Previously, Shuidi changed the annual salary of employees from 15 to 16 salary, the annual package remained unchanged, and the monthly salary was reduced. This news has triggered heated discussions and questions among netizens, what dilemma has the water drop encountered? Why are layoffs so frequent?
The core reason is that the performance continues to decline, although the water drop continues to be profitable, but the net profit attributable to the parent has declined quarter by quarter, and the profit in Q2 2023 will only be 21.7 million US dollars, and the trend will soon be a loss. At present, the main source of income of Waterdrop is insurance-related business, accounting for nearly 90%. The fundraising business for serious diseases is still in a loss-making state, requiring subsidies of hundreds of millions of yuan every year. Waterdrop said that the insurance business is to support the sustainable development of the serious illness fundraising business, not to make a profit. Waterdrop has also published its social responsibility report, showing that the fundraising projects on its platform have been rigorously reviewed and verified to ensure authenticity and legitimacy.
However, water drops also face many challenges and dilemmas. On the one hand, with the intensification of competition in the Internet medical industry, Shuidi's market share and user scale are under pressure. Waterdrop's insurance business has also come under intense regulatory scrutiny, requiring it to rectify its illegal sales and misleading consumers. On the other hand, Waterdrop's fundraising business has also caused controversy and questioning in the society, and some people believe that Waterdrop is using the compassion and charity of society to make profits for itself. Blame drops for encouraging a "culture of begging" that weakens individuals and families with a sense of self-reliance and responsibility. There are also concerns about whether Waterdrop's fundraising project is real and effective, and whether there is false exaggeration or misappropriation of funds.
In the face of these doubts, Shen Peng, the founder of Waterdrop, once said in an interview with the media that the original intention of Waterdrop was to solve the problem of serious illness relief in society and help patients and families who could not afford high medical costs. He believes that Waterdrop Chip is not begging, but exerting the power of the Internet to build an open, transparent, mutual assistance and win-win platform.
As an Internet platform involving public welfare and commerce, the significance and value of the existence of Waterdrop cannot be denied, but the difficulties and challenges it faces cannot be ignored. How to seek balance and breakthrough in such an environment, how to maintain competitiveness and innovation in such a market, can only be tested by time. The above is the whole content of this article, if you like this article, welcome to like the collection and pay attention to it~