Produced | Sanyan Finance
The author | Doraemon
When the outbreak of the epidemic broke out in early 2020, online education was pushed to the limelight.
So this year, the online education industry has entered the Red Sea, and the competition among various players is fierce. According to statistics from a platform, the total amount of online education financing in China in 2020 exceeded the sum of the past four years, with a total amount of more than 53.9 billion yuan and more than 100 public financing incidents.
At that time, whether online or offline, almost any APP, any scene can see the advertising of online education industry players. Everyone thought that the spring of online education was coming, and it would be brilliant.
But I didn't expect that this outlet might be cold now.
The announcement of the "double reduction" policy has poured cold water on all participants in the online education industry. From the beginning of 2020 to the current year and a half, online education has quickly changed from thinking about "how to burn more money to occupy more resources" to "how to save more money to ensure survival".
I saw him rise to a tall building, I saw him feast on guests, and I saw him collapse.
<h3>The wave of layoffs in online education has officially begun</h3>
On the evening of July 30, Gaotu founder Chen Xiangdong issued an internal letter, full of affection, announcing that in order to survive, Gaotu had to start a large-scale layoff.
In fact, before Chen Xiangdong's internal letter came out, Sanyan Finance and Economics noticed that the education and training industry had begun to lay off employees (for details, see: The wave of layoffs in the education and training industry is coming?). Some public relations departments have also been laid off, some have been suspended for work; many places have suspended summer subject training).
For the company, the first thing to consider is how to respond to survival in a timely manner in the case of changes in the overall environment. As a result, layoffs often become the first way open source throttling comes to mind.
However, layoffs are for the company to survive, but for the laid-off employees, it is a "broken road". During the epidemic, there is a passage that is often repeated by people: "Every grain of dust of the times, falling on everyone's head, is a mountain."
This sentence also applies to every employee who is laid off. So, in today's stage of great turmoil in the online education industry, what is the state of employees who have unfortunately become a large army of layoffs?
<h3>Layoffs</h3>
Today, Sanyan Finance recorded the personal experiences and ideas shared by more than 30 laid-off employees in the education and training industry on major social platforms. Some of them are confused, some are grateful; some are positive, some are helpless and some are angry.
All in all, the experience of each laid-off employee is strongly combined, which also adds an important color to the development of the online education industry.
Insensitive: Calmly state the situation
Some employees calmly filmed the scene of the large-scale layoffs of the head education, and everyone waited expressionlessly for the resignation procedures. The video and image uploaders did not describe the details, as if they were just a third party watching.
However, according to the video, most of the desks and chairs in the head education office are empty, and a small number of employees are not at all unusual, and it seems that life is as good as ever.
Some netizens who did not disclose the company they worked for sent a video of themselves waiting for the subway, with the text saying: "Large-scale layoffs, after eating and leaving work."
In all cases, the "indifference" or "indifference" shown is actually a minority, and in most cases, different people have different views on the layoffs.
Good gathering and good dispersion
Compared with the layoff scene of the head education taken by the above two netizens, the head education employee is "more joyful". In the video, the netizen waved at the logo card of the head education, and the caption "Finally choose to take the initiative to retreat, the moment of returning assets and badges is comfortable, to the last week of the post nine to nine."
A job helper who was laid off posted a video saying that he was still a little excited after being fired, and his mood was really good, not uncomfortable.
She said that after she came to the company, she found that the work group had been silenced by all employees, and then learned that the company would lay off employees, and she was also among them. But she said she felt relieved because she had long had a hunch that online education would be heavily regulated. Now that the matter is over, it is better to hurry up and throw yourself into the next struggle.
A netizen who is certified as a product manager of Pea Thinking posted a video of the company's work experience, and commented that the working atmosphere of Pea is good and the surrounding colleagues are "Nice".
The video content is a small short film carousel of multiple work photos, which can be seen that the netizen is very satisfied with the job. However, it is worth noting that under this dynamic, netizens labeled "pea thinking hit workers" questioned that the content of illegal layoffs and hair cuts in peas is "stupid and bad".
Then the poster responded, "Even if we are kicked, we can see each other again." What I miss and cherish is the time I used to spend together, that's all."
Maybe that's the good way to get together.
A laid-off Employee of Gaotu posted that he did not resent being dismissed, "It is not only us who are affected by the policy, but we are still young and can start again, as long as we work hard, everything can be done well."
As for what to do next, the employee said that some people will definitely choose to go to public educational institutions, of course, some people will not go, and everyone will make a choice according to their personal circumstances.
An anonymous netizen posted that thanks to online education, he made his Shanghai drift faster than his peers to achieve small-scale "financial freedom", and now that the policy has come, it has also "drifted" and the mentality is more Buddhist.
The employee who claimed to be a high school employee of Gaotu Classroom Xi'an Center said that he had been doing gaotu for 658 days, although he often complained that he was tired of work, but he really did not give up when he left.
She believes that the current industry outlook is not very good, so she opted out. I haven't thought about how to go next, even if I can't bear the students, I have no choice but to give up.
Finally, the employee expressed his gratitude to Gaotu.
Interestingly, as revealed in the enthusiastic internal letter of the founder of Gaotu, almost all of The Employees of Gaotu expressed their gratitude to the "former owner" in all the layoff experiences shared today.
Many netizens uploaded the office scene on the last day of Gaotu's layoffs, everyone sat at their desks, and everyone sang Zhang Zhenyue's "Goodbye" song in unison.
Everyone in the video is not sad on the face, and if they don't know it, they will even mistakenly think that this is a workplace party.
Many Gaotu employees have recorded their gratitude to the company after being laid off in videos, short articles, etc. Some employees posted videos of participating in team-building activities; some employees wrote short essays to write down that they did not expect to be laid off two years after graduation, but Gaotu made himself more mature and did not regret coming here; there were also employees who took pictures of their workstations and posted "Say goodbye to individuals" and so on.
The reaction of Gaotu's laid-off employees also made employees of other companies "surprised". A netizen who is certified as a good future employee posted that seeing Gaotu being laid off employees is so "happy", there is an illusion that they are "brainwashed".
Anger, spitting, wanting to arbitrate
Layoffs are essentially a loss of jobs, life is not always full of idealistic light, people always have to support their families. Therefore, not everyone can have a "goodbye" mentality after being laid off; not all companies can offer ideal layoff compensation.
A netizen who is certified as an employee of Lexue Group posted and complained, "Leaving the job to see the character can better reflect the responsibility of the enterprise, but some bosses spend the money that should be compensated for the employees, and sleep at night?" ”
At the bottom of this post, some netizens joked that "every day I get up and scold Lexue again."
The same netizen who is certified as an employee of Lexue Group exposed that if the employee does not agree to sign the dismissal compensation, Lexue will directly issue a notice of dismissal. The netizen also posted the "Notice of Termination of Labor Contract" issued by Lexue.
Some netizens broke the news that education together also began a large number of layoffs, and there were so many layoffs that they needed to write a handwritten note to call. The people waiting for the formalities have already crowded the HR workstation, and he revealed that when signing the resignation materials, HR has a good attitude, but once the materials are signed, when communicating with HR, they are insulted and blocked for no reason.
When some netizens tore up their homework to help the duck and duck kindergarten center disband, they promised to pay Social Security for June to the entire department that was laid off, but in fact they broke off diplomatic relations. The netizen said that many people are waiting to pay five years of social security in exchange for the qualification to buy a house and buy a car, and now they are delayed.
A netizen who was certified as an employee of the homework help replied that the homework help often paid late because the person who paid social security also left the job.
Several netizens indignantly posted that Pea Thinking laid off employees, not only gave 1 month less compensation, triggered employee dissatisfaction, posted in the company group to express demands, and the company's security guards also held electric batons to "forcibly drive people away". Netizens also uploaded the scene of two men in security uniforms suspected of "inviting people to leave".
There is also a suspected Pea Thinking employee who ironically revealed that he was about to start the first arbitration of his life. He says he has "a deep appreciation for the company's culture and values."
Next: The reality that must be faced
The person who is cut, whether he has a bad heart or is full of gratitude, must face the problem of what he should do next.
For fresh graduates, just after joining the work, they encountered layoffs, and confusion is the "main theme", so they posted for "people who came over" for guidance.
In addition to confusion and anxiety, more laid-off employees are worried about what they can do next.
For example, this netizen, after the layoff, participated in several rounds of interviews, and got some offers, but it was not appropriate. Now I don't know what I can do, and I even wonder if it's "I'm too good."
One outlet is gone, and jumping to another may also be a good choice. The netizen asked for help, saying that whether it is to transfer to the live e-commerce industry, the salary will be relatively appropriate.
The netizen who joined in June and now catches up with the layoffs wants to continue to do HR direction work, so he posted for advice;
Teachers rely on "mouth" to teach and educate people, sales are also based on "mouth" to make money; this netizen "whimsical" feels that it is also "eating by mouth", switching to real estate sales should also be able to earn a lot.
More laid-off employees are actually very stressful, and some of them don't even know what else to do.
The netizen revealed that he was an English teacher who had been practicing for ten years, had missed the age of examination preparation, and now did not know how to change careers;
An employee certified to work together posted a request for help as a child illustrator. He believes that the work is mainly children's illustration, it is difficult to find a suitable job, and he feels that he is going to lose his job;
Life is varied, but the road is still long
After writing about the experience of these more than thirty laid-off employees, the author also has a lot of mixed feelings in his heart. Although it is respectful, admired, and appreciated for those who can face the layoffs calmly, this is quite idealistic and unreal.
For those who are treated unfairly and are confused about the future, their situation may be a manifestation of the real world. Some people believe that the premise of being able to achieve "good gathering and good dispersion" with the company that laid off themselves must be that sufficient or even excessive compensation must be obtained. There is some truth to this statement, but no matter how you are cut, happy or angry, everyone has to choose how to take the next step.
Life is full of changes, layoffs are only one of these sentient beings, the road is still long, and life will continue.