Inside and outside the siege, young people's workplaces 2021

Image source @ Visual China

Text | Business Data School, author | Moyun, editor | Wenbin

In the middle of the times, a person is like a fine grain of sand, although it constitutes a torrent, but it cannot determine the direction of the way forward.

After New Year's Day, the smell of the year in the air is heavy.

Looking back on 2021, the entire technology industry has experienced too much.

On the one hand, the Internet is anti-monopoly, the head of the big factory shrinks and changes; the education and training industry has double-reduced, and the live e-commerce has experienced a tax storm. On the other hand, the meta-universe outlet has exploded, but word of mouth has been polarized; under the goal of carbon neutrality, green industries such as lithium batteries, hydrogen energy, and new cars have exploded; industrial Internet, automatic driving, artificial intelligence, etc. have continued to land.

In the middle of the times, a person is like a fine grain of sand, although it constitutes a rolling torrent, but it cannot decide the direction of progress.

In the past year, some people want to take advantage of the New Year's traffic window period and then desperately; some people go to work, but one day they find that the work is almost gone, and even the industry is almost gone; some people have just entered the workplace and entered the industry that everyone envies, but they find that they are not in the state they want and struggle; some people finally pluck up the courage and 996, and say goodbye to the screws of the big factory, but go around, but find that the world seems to be no different....

Sprints, confusion, epiphanies... Inside and outside the besieged city, the workplace of young people constitutes 2021.

All the past is the preface.

At the moment of retiring the old and welcoming the new, people always have to find new harbors and new goals in the summary. However, is there really the best answer?

The window period is rare, and the traffic of the New Year should be grasped

Yang Xiaona, e-commerce anchor, is 24 years old

At 10 p.m., the live broadcast on the mobile phone has stopped, but the ring fill light in front of it is still on, dividing the originally small live broadcast room into two parts: light and dark.

The colleagues who cooperated with the live broadcast have left, and Yang Xiaona is still half lying on the chair in the live broadcast room looking a little tired.

After 4 hours of high-intensity live broadcasting, the eyes that stared at the fill light for a long time were already a little sour, and the throat began to faintly hurt. Yang Xiaona habitually took out a piece of throat lozenge and held it in her mouth, which was useless, but it was better than nothing, because tomorrow there was also a live broadcast waiting for her.

Although it was very hard, Yang Xiaona was a little excited at this time. Because of the live broadcast just passed, the total amount of a single live broadcast has exceeded 100,000, which is the highest record she has ever been in the industry.

"I entered the live e-commerce industry in January last year, and it has been exactly one year now." Yang Xiaona told us: "When I first entered the live e-commerce industry, I saw the vigorous development trend of this industry. Coupled with being a nutritionist, I have an advantage in doing nutrition videos. ”

Now, after more than a year of training, Yang Xiaona is already an experienced old anchor in the company, and she can already train the new anchor every day.

Yang Xiaona's company' main business is brand live broadcasting agency operation, that is, to help some traditional big brands who are not good at live broadcasting with goods to do live broadcasting.

"The biggest feeling of the past year has been change." Yang Xiaona said: "At the beginning of the year, brand live broadcasting was not so popular, but by the end of the year, it had basically become the standard of every brand. ”

With the change of market demand, business has naturally become better. But on the other hand, the live e-commerce industry did experience a lot of shocks last year, including the overturning of head anchors such as Sydney, Lin Shanshan, and Wei Ya, and the live e-commerce industry is also facing the risk of policy tightening.

But Yang Xiaona told us that as a small anchor, especially as an anchor like her as an employee of the company, this policy change has no special impact.

Even to some extent, these changes have become a rare opportunity for them. After all, the fall of the head anchor released huge demand and traffic; at the same time, the platform also saw the drawbacks of the head anchor and began to support small and medium-sized anchors.

Yang Xiaona said that Douyin is now specially equipped with a small second in our company, just to help us deal with some live broadcast problems at any time. And these will be opportunities for their further development.

But Yang Xiaona also understood that such an opportunity was fleeting.

"The traffic during the New Year is very good, so I won't go back." To this end, in the face of the upcoming Spring Festival, Yang Xiaona decided to stick to her post. In her view, the Spring Festival is the most important traffic window period during this time, as a small anchor, she must seize this opportunity.

"This is the first time I've been out of town for the New Year, maybe I'll be able to go home next year, but probably not."

Advanced manufacturing is good, but I want to go to the internet

Liu Mei Circuit Design Engineer 22 years old

Now walking home from work every day, the more she faces the cold wind of winter, the more Liu Mei can feel the strong impulse in her heart to leave her job and choose a new way of life.

Life is sometimes like this, some pits must be stepped on, only by trying it yourself, you will know what things are not what you want.

As a fresh graduate in 2021, Liu Mei, majoring in electronic information engineering at a prestigious university, entered BOE after graduation and became a circuit design engineer.

"When I first entered this industry, I was interested in advanced manufacturing, because I learned to "write code", and then out of feelings, I felt that only by writing code for physical products would I have a sense of accomplishment. In addition, I didn't think much about anything else at the beginning, and when I was studying, everyone knew that the employment rate of this profession was quite high, and the salary was higher than the average, so they were all studying steadily. Liu Mei said.

"To be honest, the company is treated well now."

Liu Mei told us that in their company, there are actually a lot of young people, and the welfare benefits are not bad among graduates, and the point is that they basically never work overtime, let alone 996. "The overall cost performance is quite high, and I heard that this year's year-end award will be given quite high, because I heard from old employees that the company's year-end award fluctuates with the overall performance, and last year the company's revenue hit a record high."

In 2021, unlike the regulated industries of education and training, live e-commerce, and Internet anti-monopoly, as a member of the advanced manufacturing industry, BOE has faced an unprecedented favorable policy situation in recent years. At the same time, with the demand for mobile phone folding screens, car displays and other equipment has increased significantly, BOE has a thriving scene in the market.

But it is such a job that seems to be the envy of everyone, liu mei wants to leave.

"We're working now that we're particularly unsaturated, eight hours a day, basically three or four hours to get the job done. It wasn't Versailles, it was the feeling of powerlessness that I wanted to learn something but didn't have the chance. ”

"Another may be a characteristic of manufacturing, there are so many rules that people feel restricted at any time." My perception of manufacturing is extremely standardized, the more mechanized, the more standard, the more error-free the better. Liu Mei said: "The feeling that I did not have the joy of going to school when I did the circuit at work was not as happy as when I went to school, nor was I as happy as when I was in school, and I often felt that I was about to become a machine." ”

In Liu Mei's view, the treatment and welfare of advanced manufacturing are good, and the future development will continue to flourish. But too much demand on employees to follow the rules, too much demand for work to meet the standards, so that her creativity has been seriously frustrated, it is difficult to rekindle the passion in her heart.

Must leave, must leave, must leave, as the year is approaching, Liu Mei's inner voice is becoming more and more restless.

"Maybe you will still consider working in the Internet industry, because there are many young people, the culture is relatively open, and the working atmosphere should be happier." It's funny to say, I also learned after graduation that the Internet has high-paying positions related to non-programs. ”

Leave the 2C Internet and go to 2B to shelter from the wind

Zhang Li Internet factory operation 25 years old

Hum ~ hum ~ in the dark, the phone next to the pillow came from a slight vibration, and then the screen lit up.

Zhang Li, who was already about to fall asleep, habitually picked up the mobile phone, half squinting her eyes to adapt to the strong light coming from the screen. At 23:45, a piece of user feedback data came from the work group.

For many young people now, entering the Internet factory is a dream thing, but Zhang Li has come out of it.

In 2021, Zhang Li, who was originally doing C-end operations, left Tencent and entered a B-side software company to do product operations. "I joined Tencent in February last year and then left in October." Regarding this short experience of a large factory, Zhang Li said.

Last year, many first-line Internet manufacturers began to shrink their business scope and optimize their organizational structure. For many employees of large factories who do not make money, marginal business or have strong job substitution, layoffs have become a layer of haze that has always hung over their heads.

"Goose Factory Shenzhen does have layoffs, including my colleagues around me. As far as I know, there are about 500 layoffs related to the education line. Zhang Li said: "But I left my job not because of layoffs, but simply because I didn't want to do it, I was too tired." ”

"I am doing operations, the growth of this position itself is not very high, most of the work is repetitive, plus there will be some daily business requirements, I don't like it very much." Regarding the departure, Zhang Li explained: "The operation is really hard, most of the time it is more than nine o'clock in the evening, and it is also necessary to be online at any time after work. ”

Nowadays, although Zhang Li has turned to B-side product operations. The work content is more professional and more roomy than before, but the problem of working long hours and 24 hours online is still the same.

"No way, that's how you run this job." Zhang Li was a little helpless.

However, although I have left my job, I am optimistic about the prospects of the entire consumer Internet industry. After all, in the future, like AI, meta-universe, VR/AR, etc. will become a new growth point for Internet technology companies.

But from the current point of view, because of the anti-monopoly thing, in the short term, I think there may still be some shocks, especially in terms of personnel organization, so this time to enter the big factory, if it is not a core position, the risk of being a newcomer is still quite large.

Waiting for a wave of risks to pass, if I have the opportunity, I may still consider returning to the Internet factory. After all, in this industry, colleagues are close in age and get along more harmoniously; in business management, the system will be more clear and fair, compared to other industries, working in an Internet factory will certainly be much more comfortable.

In general, last year's year can also be regarded as experiencing some things, so at the end of the year, I plan to summarize myself well. In addition, I have been busy before, so although I do not go back to my hometown, I also have to spend more time with my parents in the New Year.

I am not a teacher, and I am confused in the transformation

Li Yue, a math teacher at the tutoring institution, is 25 years old

The wind in the south is not as strong as in the north, but the cold air still burrows into the clothes from all directions like life, making people feel a biting chill.

Li Yue folded the collar, put his hand in his pocket, and then lowered his head, so he walked step by step.

In early January, after leaving the company and returning home for a while, Li Yue often wandered around her home. There is no destination, and I don't know where to go, but it seems that as long as you walk like this, you can always find the direction.

Leaving at the end of the year may be difficult for many people to understand, but when we know that Li Yue's previous job was a teacher in an education and training institution, we felt a little relieved.

"Everyone left, and I was almost the last to go." When it comes to the situation of the former company, Li Yue's tone is flat, but from her words, we can feel a little loss.

Since the landing of the "double reduction" policy in July 2021, layoffs, shutdowns, and transformations have become the norm in the education and training industry, and Li Yue, who only left his job in January this year, has been relatively late in the big wave of transformation of the education and training industry.

"It's a lot of fun to work, but if you really like it, you can't talk about it." Talking about the job that just ended, Li Yue said.

"I didn't do this long, I only entered the education and training industry at the beginning of last year, when I chose this job, K12 was still a very popular track, but no one expected that after only one year, the whole environment completely changed."

"The previous company was a small training institution, there were not many people, after the double reduction policy came out, we have stopped enrolling, just want to finish the last class that collected money, and finally the company will naturally close."

At first, there were still a lot of students who signed up before, but the more people went back, the fewer people there were, and as the students who finished the class slowly left, there was no new source of students, the class became more and more day by day, and then colleagues slowly left.

"When I left, I still had a few students, and the boss himself was able to cope with it, but after I left, he was the only one left in the company."

Asked about future plans, Li Yue had not yet thought about it.

"I just wanted to come back early to rest, I was tired from work before, small agency, and each of us basically had several jobs. And it wasn't easy to find a job at the end of the year, and colleagues who left earlier than me before have not found a job now. ”

"But the past year has not been without gains." Li Yue said: "Because in a small company, if you can do things, the boss will easily give you more authority." In my previous year's work, from lesson preparation, teaching, to class, marketing, basically the entire company operation process has been involved, I believe these experiences will still be helpful to me in the future. ”

But after that, I will definitely not do the education and training industry again, and I have no intention of going to school to become a teacher. Li Yue said: "I now find that what I really like should not be this, I chose to do education and training only because I did not contact others, so I chose a feeling that is appropriate." ”

"To be honest, I'm still a little confused. But now that I'm in this situation, it's actually an opportunity for me to have some time to think about what I really like and what I want to do. ”

"Recently, I have either chased the drama or wandered around, trying to release my negative emotions. As for next year, let's talk about it next year, the most important thing now is to have a good new year. Li Yue said.

*All characters in this article are pseudonyms.