The courier brother is in a system dilemma, and the express delivery company is in a dilemma of involution.
Recently, the news of SF Hangzhou's "college degree required for recruitment of couriers" has been on the hot search. It is reported that the salary range of this position is 9K-14K/month, and the educational requirements are from this year, and this requirement has been added to all couriers.
Previously, most express companies did not put forward rigid requirements for the education of the little brother, and the maverick performance of SF Express also stirred up a thousand waves in the courier group.
In the short video platform of "Express Observer", many express delivery practitioners not only discussed the "college degree requirements", but also put forward their views on the current customer complaint fines, distribution fees, and the decline in accrual, and even some express delivery brothers directly "posted" the resignation list.
In fact, although today's express delivery industry has absorbed a lot of highly educated talents, and its social status has also improved, a survey launched by the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League for the province's express delivery brothers shows that the group is still dominated by high school education, and high school education and above account for 77.52% of the total sample.
On the one hand, the courier brother has a lot of complaints about reducing the distribution fee and reducing the accrual, and on the other hand, the express company has a high desire for the quality and service upgrade of the little brother.
The courier brother "escaped"
Only one quarter of 2024 has passed, but there have been several waves of resignation shocks in the express delivery industry.
First of all, at the end of last year, the express delivery companies "rushed performance", and the news of reducing the cost of non-door-to-door express delivery was originally before the Spring Festival, when the express brother was in short supply, but the balance of the express company still chose to "reduce costs and increase efficiency" to ensure profits, and the first thing to bear the brunt of the express delivery fee and accrual.
Followed by the new express delivery regulations in March after the Spring Festival, the timeliness and door-to-door requirements are stricter, and the fine amount has reached the level of 30,000. Before delivery, the users of the telegraph and the clear demand are the double burden of time and opportunity cost for the courier brother who has an inch of time and an inch of gold.
The aftershocks of the new express delivery regulations have not ended, and the new national standard in April was "launched on time", which is equivalent to adding a "tight spell" to the head of the express brother, and some unreasonable customer complaints have led to an increase in the fine of the express brother, which in turn has led to excessive mental pressure and physical and mental exhaustion of many brothers.
Yibao.com learned that recently, Ningbo Express brother Huang Master failed to deliver to the door, causing the same customer to complain 6 times in a row, according to the company's regulations, the little brother was fined 900 yuan, and the final coordination was fined 450 yuan.
Originally, before the official implementation of the new regulations, the industry also expected to rely on administrative means to force the express fee to rise, but in fact, the express fee did not rise, and the express delivery fee fell first. Since 2024, many express delivery companies have adjusted their delivery fees and accrual strategies, and at the same time, "flexible accrual" has added a lot of business KPI requirements to Xiaoge, and Xiaoge has to deliver and promote products.
According to the "2023 China Blue-Collar Employment Research Report", the average income of couriers is 5,834 yuan, which is much lower than that of blue-collar positions such as confinement maids, truck drivers, and domestic service workers. In addition, a survey report released by the State Post Bureau in February 2023 showed that more than 70% of couriers work more than 10 hours a day.
The courier brother "lives and dies" every day, delivering more pieces, but he does not earn more rewards, and his sense of gain and happiness continues to decline, and finally reaches the critical point and "flees" one after another.
Headquarters upgrade "eagerness"
The mobility of the express brother is getting bigger and bigger, and the express company is recruiting people more and more frequently, and not long ago, Jingdong's 10,000-person recruitment plan also made the industry boil.
At present, major e-commerce platforms are actively preparing for 618, and express companies have also opened a new round of courier personnel reserves. However, SF Express's Hangzhou site has a "college degree" recruitment requirement, which may have an impact on the entire industry.
On the one hand, in recent years, various express companies have been emphasizing the upgrading of brand services, including but not limited to timeliness, door-to-door, etc., and the end of the express brother as a front-line personnel to contact customers and show the company's image, its quality and literacy must be a direct factor. It is understandable that express delivery companies want to improve the overall quality of the end brother, and academic qualifications are the safest and most efficient way to screen.
The role of force is mutual, with the improvement of the industry's educational requirements for the express brother, there will be fewer and fewer candidates who meet the requirements, and the express delivery industry that often encounters labor shortages during the original e-commerce promotion, how to make up for the reserve army is a long-term problem that needs to be solved.
On the other hand, the development trend of automation and digital intelligence has indeed raised the overall employment threshold of the industry, and some digital intelligence system operations themselves have certain requirements. At the same time, after market education, customers also have a better understanding of the services of express companies, and they also know how to fight for their own rights and interests.
At the same time, it is also the general trend for express companies to upgrade their services and standardize standards, so that the industry as a whole can embark on a benign development track.
Yibao.com believes that in the face of the group of small brothers with large mobility, it is the first priority to let them stay. If no one does things, how to talk about upgrading, even if the express delivery company tries various unmanned distribution operations at the end, such as unmanned vehicles, drones, etc., but compared with the more flexible and mobile brother, the immature machine can only be used as an auxiliary tool, and the express brother is still the main force of the end distribution.
What is the "impasse".
According to the financial report data, in 2023, SF Express's net profit will be 8.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 33.38%, JD Logistics' net profit will be 620 million, a year-on-year increase of 144.11%, and Zhongtong's net profit will be 8.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 32%. These substantial increases in profits, express companies attributed to "reducing costs and increasing efficiency", but it is the end that is under pressure.
In the view of Yibao.com, as a listed company, to be responsible for investors, it is necessary to ensure corporate profits, which is beyond doubt. However, as an enterprise, employees are the cornerstone of creating profits, and the company needs to be more responsible for employees. Especially in the case that the gap between the timeliness and service capacity of each express delivery is getting smaller and smaller, only by consolidating the end cornerstone can we prepare for a long-term battle.
At this stage, express companies are in the dilemma of mutual consumption, whether it is a price war or a timeliness war, no one dares to stop first, because there are always more parties willing to make up for the vacant market.
In fact, it is not without a way to alleviate the impasse between the courier brother and the courier company's service and performance improvement
Yibao.com believes that in terms of terminal distribution, instead of looking for uncertainty in the "incremental" market, it is better to deepen the possibility in the "stock" market.
That is to say, in view of the existing courier brother group and the existing distribution process and new regulations, the first is to strengthen the training of couriers, improve the ability to communicate with customers, and strengthen the existing incentive mechanism, instead of only punishing and not rewarding, and enhance the value of the courier brother;
The second is to optimize the distribution process, including technical means to achieve automatic confirmation of delivery information, taking the new express delivery regulations as an example, the pre-delivery call required by the regulations can be achieved through customer service robots. Similar contradictions that can be solved by technology are not difficult at this stage.
The third is to make the little brother assessment system specific to the executable and operational level. For example, the regulations only require the telephone Union to deliver door-to-door, but do not consider the actual scenario, the possible phone calls are rejected, and the customer is left at the door but lost according to the customer's requirements.
Behind the era of 100 billion express delivery, there are also millions of express delivery practitioners, and the industry wants a virtuous circle, and the human factor is indispensable. While putting forward higher requirements for terminal outlets and express delivery brothers, it is necessary to further consider whether the company provides a more convincing working environment for front-line employees, and whether the treatment has kept up.