The new car is a thing of the past: how can middle-aged executives make a living after taking risks without an ideal country?

Editor | Yanwu Bai Tao

On his 37th birthday, Cheng Tao made two wishes to a candle: to get back his unpaid salary and find a job again.

This is a rare day to relax. My parents in my hometown called early in the morning, and my wife prepared a large table of hometown dishes from morning till night to accompany my lovely daughter. He tried to avoid recalling the bad experience of the past year, but it was still difficult to keep a good mood for a moment.

Middle-aged people have too many responsibilities on their shoulders, and the whole family is counting on him to support them, but Cheng Tao worries about money almost every day. In the mind of this former employee who has been laid off for more than half a year due to unpaid wages, even if all the negative words describing reality are added together, it is not enough to describe his feelings for 36 years.

When their daughter was born, Mr. and Mrs. Cheng Tao gritted their teeth and bought a small two-bedroom school district at a price of 50,000 yuan per square meter. Not only did he spend all his savings, but he also borrowed money from banks and friends, with a monthly payment of 1 000 yuan. He climbed all the way from the countryside to the big city. Without the help of his relatives, he had to earn everything he took root on his own. After the source of income was interrupted, this large sum of money became the biggest problem.

"Recently, I often see people talking about retaliatory consumption, but I just want to make money and save money to retaliate." As the mainstay of the family economy, Cheng Tao's life has been completely disrupted, because she has no income for more than half a year.

In order to save money, Cheng Tao and his wife seldom go out to eat. At the end of last year, the couple took their daughter to see an animated film to celebrate their wedding anniversary. The means of transportation to go home for the New Year has changed from high-speed rail to ordinary train, and the Disney travel plan that my daughter often asks about has been put on hold indefinitely.

The pressure was so great that Cheng Tao, who used to sleep till dawn and couldn't even hear her daughter crying, began to suffer from insomnia. The increasing cost of education and living overwhelmed him, and the hair on his temples seemed to turn gray overnight.

The word unemployment makes the unemployed particularly sensitive to the attitudes of people around them.

Li Jia, who has worked in the new army for less than a year, is afraid to answer his father's phone for fear that his family will find himself laid off. In the year when he came to Beijing, his 55-year-old father continued to go out to work and wanted to make some contributions to his son's family.

Sun Li temporarily concealed the news of unemployment from his short-term girlfriend. When his mother came to see him from his hometown, he pretended to get up early every day to go out to work, stay in a coffee shop not far from home for a day, and then go home after work at night. "I used to watch TV dramas. Some people have to sit in the car for a while even if they go downstairs after work. I found that this really happened in reality. You can't take this pressure home, but you don't know how to solve it. "

All patience, self-confidence and self-protection are gradually exhausted in dealing with the boss and HR.

Cheng Tao heard that someone was "rolling around" in the leadership office to get some salary, so he couldn't go out, so he bought fruit and went home to visit the leadership after work. At that time, he was satisfied with the atmosphere of friendly conversation between the two sides. After returning home, he told his wife that it was expected to ask for wages. However, the reality is that the agreed replacement salary has not been fulfilled. After being completely disappointed, he decided to choose labor arbitration, but the company did not agree to mediation. "I can only appeal, and it will take a long time to think clearly."

In the end, Cheng Tao found that even if he was the right person, "employees' arms could not twist the thighs of the company".

Many laid-off employees are not convinced at first and are ready to challenge the company, but few people can really stick to the day when it comes true. Going through legal procedures or labor arbitration means spending a lot of time and energy. Sun Hao even began to envy him as my brother and was laid off by a big company. "At least they can get wages and remuneration normally." .

Lucky people left their jobs at the beginning of last year, and whether they are satisfied or not, they can finally find their next home. By 2020, it will be more difficult to find a job because of the epidemic and the decline of the automobile industry.

Sun Hao brushes the recruitment website at home every day, and the direction of submitting resumes is not limited to this major. He is eager to get more interview opportunities. Going out less is not only to avoid new expenses as much as possible, but also because the rent is expensive. "Staying at home more can make you feel worth the rent."

There is less toilet paper and hand sanitizer, and the food in the canteen is getting worse and worse. Even the number of trash cans originally owned by one person is shrinking. At the beginning, the traditional autobots who came to build a new force with high salary and future were like being "played a big joke" by life.

At the beginning of 20 18, Singularity Automobile, one of the first five new car-making enterprises to launch "quasi-mass production models", held its annual meeting in Lido Hotel, Beijing. More than a dozen directors each paid 2000 yuan and bought gifts such as headphones, massage chairs and humidifiers for employees. 600 to 700 people participated in the lucky draw, and their morale was high.

The annual meeting of a well-known new car-making company with a scale of six or seven hundred people is also huge. An employee attending the annual meeting told the reporter of Future Auto Daily (ID: auto-time) that the winning rate can reach about 80%, and the prizes include Apple products, ranging from 666 yuan red envelopes to 50,000 yuan in cash. "It really subverts my understanding of the annual lottery." In 20 19, the company's team size reached more than 2,000 people, and the annual meeting was held in Chengdu, Shanghai and Wenzhou respectively, which was as grand as in 20 18. "One year, two years, new car use right plus award".

However, by 2020, the annual meeting of this well-known new car-making company will lose the "liveliness and style" of the previous year, and it will simply hold a sports meeting in Shanghai, where "everyone will have a box lunch and everyone will be around 40 yuan". In the same year, Singularity Automobile, which was deeply mired in unpaid wages, did not hold an annual meeting. Only sporadic departments have small-scale dinners, and the number of employees has shrunk by more than half.

Numerous details of lack of money pieced together the embarrassing situation that the new forces of building cars are stretched.

When Future Auto Daily (ID: auto-time) participated in the offline activities of Sky Auto ME7 in June 5438+February last year, Sky Auto Dining Hall provided at least four dishes and one soup, with vegetarian dishes and fruits to choose from. At that time, insiders of the company said that Skycar introduced two canteen suppliers to ensure the quality of employees' meals. By April of this year, the owner of the canteen who was in arrears for several months left with a burden, and the quality of the food plummeted.

Another employee of the new car-making army said that the company's travel budget has been obviously stuck since last year. "There are more restrictions and the business trip cycle is extended. For example, employees are required to return for half a month or longer. "

Because there is no money, the suppliers in the upstream of the industrial chain of the new car-making forces are often small in scale, with a small pool of funds and a short payment cycle (the payment cycle of traditional car companies is usually about half a year, and new cars may be compressed to 1 month).

A new supplier of cars revealed to Future Auto Daily that some suppliers made substantial concessions according to the large purchase volume when signing the contract, but after the production line was off the assembly line, it was found that the manufacturers could not reach the original purchase volume within the specified time. Insiders of the new car said, "After LeTV's accident, suppliers are psychologically wary of the new forces that build cars."

An employee of the new army who is responsible for purchasing cars told the reporter of Future Auto Daily (ID: auto-time) that some suppliers are built in rural areas and the company has no brand. The doorman is an old man, "looks like a farmhouse." Another senior OEM practitioner said that it is not easy for the new forces to find all the parts suppliers needed for vehicle production and make them willing to supply them on time.

Singularity automobile project once defaulted on the supplier's payment, resulting in a batch of customized processed parts being cut off. Baiteng Automobile also ran aground due to financing and supply chain problems. A person who has been to Baiteng Automobile twice said that by the end of last year, Baiteng had only opened the exhibition hall and the R&D building, and most of the factories were still empty. "There is still only one prototype."

Lack of money also affects automobile sales downstream of the industrial chain. New car brands sell fewer cars, which is quite different from expectations, and the cooperation degree of cooperative dealers is also low. If there is a customer complaint, the people of the new car company manufacturer should personally serve the customer and handle the customer complaint.

The cold winter continues to spread, and it is not just the new forces that tighten their belts.

Toyota (China), which used to choose a 19% discount ticket for business trips, also tightened its budget. If there is a lower discount within three or four hours before the business trip, choose a cheaper flight. Tesla once cut the travel budget. "The accommodation hotel has dropped to an express hotel around 400 yuan, and there are not many technicians who often participate in competitions and provide technical support around the world." .

Last year, a joint venture car company used trash cans at one stop, but now it uses trash cans at four stops, and even the hand sanitizer has become thinner. An OEM employee told the reporter of Future Auto Daily (ID: auto-time) that some car production line workers took part-time delivery.

The cruelty of reality is that without money, it is difficult to be qualified to talk about dreams.

From Meng Tong, a joint venture brand that joined the new army of car-making with former leaders, I still remember that in the department where several colleagues left together, everyone drank too much.

Although they have different life pursuits, at least at that time, the people who left seemed to have a bright future. Some people were promoted to management positions, while others received considerable salaries. "Everyone is passionate about the future." . At the end of the toast, the colleague who stayed in the traditional car company joked: "Don't forget each other, hug your thighs later."

Some people are engaged in ceiling work and need new entrepreneurial experience, while others are fed up with the qualifications of traditional enterprises. The salary level, reaction speed and promotion space are in line with those of internet companies, showing the power at the forefront.

20 15 The traditional car companies that blew the horn of electrification and the new car-making forces that started smoothly dug up people from each other. Cheng Tao, who has worked in a traditional automobile company for many years, was the beneficiary of this talent war.

At that time, most new car-making enterprises were still in the stage of organizational growth and personnel recruitment, with a total number of 200-300, and some even less than 100. The real R&D team has not yet been established, which is a critical period for recruiting talents with high salaries. Weilai financial report shows that the salary cost of Weilai automobile employees was more than 900 million yuan in 20 16, and it has increased to more than 4 10 billion yuan in 20 18.

When the limelight is strong, some new car manufacturers even offer 3-4 times higher wages than traditional car companies to find headhunters to dig people, and the ranks and treatment of experienced professionals are rising. As a result, after learning about the job-hopping treatment of his peers, Cheng Tao regretted that he promised too quickly at that time and did not compare with many companies that extended olive branches.

It was the end of the golden age of the automobile industry, terminal sales hit record highs, and subsidized new energy automobile industry was emerging. People firmly believe that this will be a fertile ground for replicating the miracle of the Internet industry.

Up to now, people are still talking about the details, including the first NIO DAY held by Weilai Automobile at Wukesong Gymnasium in Beijing, which cost tens of millions of yuan, and the NIO House in Wangfujing, Beijing, which opened at a huge rent. The standard of tourist hotels for employees of Weilai Automobile in domestic first-tier cities is 900 yuan, which is in line with the world's top 500. They can stay at Hilton directly when traveling in Shanghai. If the daily business trip allowance of 300 yuan can't be spent, it can be turned into an allowance and directly credited to the employee account.

Li Chao, an employee of a traditional car company, said frankly that these new opportunities, which look cool and fashionable and have unlimited imagination and development space, are "attractive anyway" for enthusiastic young people who have been working hard in the workplace for five years.

He didn't seize this opportunity because the new car was "overheated and didn't feel very reliable".

The newly built car, a game called "money breaker", is destined to rely on capital blood transfusion. As the enthusiasm of capital gradually cools down and glides over the highest point of the entrepreneurial wave, the newly-built car movement, which was in the limelight for a while, is like riding a roller coaster, sliding all the way to an unpredictable direction and destination.

In the first half of 20 18, the concept car should be handed in 2-3 years after it went on the market. "Many people can't hand in their homework," said the autobot who jumped to a new car company on 20 16.

In Meng Tong's view, when the lively and extraordinary financing environment ceased to exist, a new car short of money suddenly got stuck. "Many things can't be achieved, and there is no chance to continue." .

Since 20 18, the new forces of making cars have obviously tightened the project expenditure.

An employee of New Force revealed that when applying for the budget of departmental training project, the audit manager called several alternative companies one by one to further reduce the price, and the progress of enterprise projects with serious lack of money was stagnant. "All the suppliers have been selected, but there is nothing below." Other car companies took over the work previously given to the third-party consulting company and took care of it themselves.

Shen Feng, executive vice president in charge of quality, procurement and manufacturing of Weilai, told 36Kr that he would turn off the office lights when he went out for a meeting. From the second half of 20 19, a notice board for saving electricity was erected in the office building of Weilai Anting headquarters, and the power was cut off every day during lunch break 1 hour.

Since last August, Cheng Tao has noticed that it has become difficult to pay wages, and the statement given by the company is that the financing has not been put in place. Colleagues around me leave from crop to crop, and every month, three people's positions become two people, and finally become one person. Cheng Tao also wanted to leave, but he was lucky that the company might survive with a broken arm.

Someone stopped the loss in time, and he convinced himself to finish what he started. But it wasn't until New Year's Eve that Cheng Tao, who had been waiting for a day with his mobile phone, didn't wait for the agreed replacement salary.

Around 20 14, Zhang Peng, who worked in a Japanese car company for three years, left the traditional main engine factory and moved to all the new forces that built cars from scratch.

On the first day of his employment, he felt the obvious gap from the furnishings of his desk. Working in a traditional automobile company, there are staplers, folders, calculators, notebooks, pens and a pack of tissues on the desk in an orderly way. But in the new car-making enterprises, "there is only one notebook and one computer on the desk".

In recent years, Zhang Peng often stays up late and works overtime to sort out materials, but in traditional car companies, "these materials are simply modified on the original basis".

Another person close to the newly-built automobile also told the Future Automobile Daily (ID: auto-time) that many things that traditional OEMs take for granted are not available to the newly-built automobile company, and employees need to find ways to solve them themselves. For example, the off-line test of a test drive requires a road test site. Traditional car companies have special venues, but new car companies need employees to coordinate themselves and borrow partners' venues.

In 2020, the closing of the financing window, sustained losses, and the blow of the epidemic black swan have made it difficult for the embattled new forces to retain the talents recruited in the past.

Zhu Jiang, former vice president of automobile user development of Weilai, will officially join Ford China on June 1 day as the head of the pure electric project of MACH-E, and return to the long-lost embrace of the traditional OEM. In March this year, Zhao, the former vice president of Weilai Automobile User Center, joined Great Wall Motor as the general manager of the User Center of Great Wall Sales Company. Xiang Dongping, former director and chief marketing officer of Skycar who left at the end of February, has also served as deputy general manager and sales director of Beijing Hyundai.

An autobot who has worked for many years in the new car-making force told the reporter of Future Auto Daily (ID: auto-time) that all the people around him have basically returned to the traditional OEM. "The new force of building a car is like a ship sailing on the sea, which may capsize at any time. Traditional car companies are more like aircraft carriers and more stable. "

Enjoy the passion of the new car peak, but the autobots who actively enter the market are suffering from the recession of the current tide.

Because of "unaccustomed", Meng Tong stayed in the new car company for only two months and then returned to his old club. "Aside from salary, the business budget gap is very large, and the workflow and division of labor are not clear enough. On the other hand, because of its small scale, some parts manufacturers have no bargaining power and no one trusts you. This gap is very large. "

Zhang Peng has some regrets. If he hadn't left Japanese car companies to "wade into the muddy water of new cars", he would now be "at least a class teacher with an annual salary of 600,000 to 700,000".

He is now taking care of the children at home full-time for half a year. Attacked by the epidemic black swan, the recruitment channels of traditional car companies suddenly closed after the Spring Festival. He looked around for ways to try to jump back to the traditional car companies, and bravely competed with the newly graduated newcomers for several jobs. It is estimated that he can only get a monthly salary of about 20,000.

The dreams and ambitions that were put into it have long been exhausted, and only a chicken feather is left in reality. Zhang Peng believes that "no one should be involved in this muddy water now unless they really can't find a job".

Cheng Tao thought it was no problem to find a job with his qualifications, but because of the tug-of-war with his former employer, the unemployment time was extended. He even had the idea of leaving the automobile industry for the first time. "Sometimes I feel like a screw in the company. When this company or industry is in a downturn, whether you have the ability or not, it may be like a big wave, and a wave will take you away. "

Only then did he realize that the meaningful line "Winter is coming" in the American drama Game of Thrones has become a true portrayal of his life. After receiving the latest interview opportunity, he told himself another sentence: "You will fail, more than once, be patient."

This is the dilemma and opportunity faced by almost all new car manufacturers. Li Bin and Li Xiang are still trying to make cars. He believes that the fun of driving a new car is to survive and grow in 99% doubts. 65438+1October 19, Freeman Shen, the founder of Weimar Automobile, wrote on his 50th birthday: The white hair has grown a lot this year, and the hard days have been worn away.

Life may whip harder, but they have to move on.

(At the request of the interviewee, Cheng Tao, Li Jia, Sun Hao, Meng Tong, Zhang Peng and Li Chao are all pseudonyms in this article. )