The other side of the layoff wave: Don’t want to “roll” anymore, want to be “N+1”

Yuan Dian clearly remembers that the number of people in the work group dropped from 232 to 30 in just one week.

At that time, Yuan Dian was lucky. Experienced "technical experts" and fresh graduates all escaped the "layoff", but he was the only one who stayed.

But as more and more colleagues left and the company was still transforming its new business, Yuan Dian's workload became heavier. Gradually, he envied his former colleagues who left with N+1 compensation.

A survey conducted by 51job.com showed that 67% of people in the workplace often feel insecure, 31% feel insecure occasionally, and only 2% have no concerns at all.

The shadow of layoffs in the Internet industry has been spreading. The trend of reducing costs and increasing efficiency, and reducing fat and increasing thinning is more obvious.

Recently, there have been reports that Internet giants such as Tencent and Alibaba will lay off a large number of employees. Alibaba is expected to lay off about 30% of its employees, and Tencent is expected to lay off 20%. It is possible that the entire group will be cut. Prior to this, there were rumors that Alibaba's MMC business group had taken the lead in planning layoffs, with the number of layoffs being about 20%. At present, multiple business lines have preliminarily finalized the layoff list. Later, according to 36Kr, Tencent's layoff ratio did not reach the 30% rumored by the outside world, while Alibaba's layoffs were concentrated in the MMC business group.

The feeling of uneasiness is spreading in the Internet industry. Employees who have not been laid off are also shouldering more workload and mental pressure. More "competitive" and more tired have become their normal state, and as a result, many people have begun to envy those who have been laid off.

On platforms like Maimai, one can see the other side of the wave of layoffs: laid-off employees are announced to have received N+1, while the comments below are all about “taking their chances” and hoping to be “optimized”.

Yuan Dian's hair loss and insomnia have become more serious recently. After evaluating the risks, he felt that it would be more cost-effective to change jobs after getting N+1.

Seeing his former colleagues enjoying their "retirement" life, Yang An, as the project leader, also had the idea of ​​lying down and waiting for N+1 compensation.

More and more people are re-evaluating their lives and careers, and "staying" may not be the best option anymore.

From being thankful for not being laid off to envious and looking forward to N+1

Yuan Dian | Programmer at an Internet company

The number of people in the work group was getting smaller and smaller, and my colleagues were leaving one after another. I realized that a large wave of layoffs was coming.

At first I was glad. All my colleagues, whether they were more experienced or less experienced than me, were laid off. Although they received N+1 compensation, they lost a job with a high salary and good benefits.

But while I was secretly celebrating, my anxiety was also getting worse. Especially at the end of last year, the HR and interviewer who recruited me left the company, which undoubtedly added another wave of fear to me.

You know, my interviewer is a senior technician in the team and has worked in the company for six or seven years. Unfortunately, he did not escape the 35-year-old law of the Internet industry.

At that time, I was often anxious and insomniac, and my hair became bald. I was working in R&D, and my girlfriend was also worried about my health and hair.

At the same time, my colleagues were also trying their best to control their anxiety. The whole company was in a state of panic, fearing that they would be laid off. The panic lasted for two months. It was not until my colleagues in the same group were laid off that the department leaders comforted the employees who stayed and told them that they were safe.

But we all know that this safety is only temporary.

I still remember the day when a good friend of mine left the company. He sat across from me, and one afternoon he suddenly left with his things without any warning. He told me on WeChat for Business, "Hey, add me on WeChat, I'm leaving the company," without even saying goodbye face to face.

The colleagues who left with N+1 compensation did not feel as relaxed and calm as expected. More importantly, the chain reaction brought about by the reduction in headcount is that the workload of our remaining employees has increased significantly.

Previously, due to changes in industry policies, my R&D team alone laid off 40%-50% of its staff. At that time, we basically operated at full capacity every week. For example, every Monday was a fixed "pattern making" day, which was to update the details in the software. Before, when the team was large, it could be completed in two or three hours, but now it takes us five or six hours, and we have to work overtime every Monday to complete it.

Over time, I gradually became exhausted from the full workload, and even began to wonder whether the N+1 compensation was "good enough". At this time, the lives of the colleagues who had been laid off were gradually getting back on track. Some of them passed the civil service exam and got a job, while others used the compensation to travel around.

A few years ago, the company was transforming to do new business. In addition, the business itself was difficult to do in the early stage, so our workload became even greater. This made me even more envious of my laid-off colleagues, and the desire to "grab" some compensation became stronger and stronger.

I did a simple risk assessment for myself. To be honest, as a developer, I don't have to worry about finding a job. With three years of work experience, I have the ability to change jobs. Even if I was laid off, it was due to the industry, not because of my own ability.

The most attractive thing is that if I get laid off now, I can get N+1 compensation, which means I can get a considerable amount of money for three years of work. This money is enough for me to go out and have fun, and buy some big things. Even if I don’t go out, I can save this money for a down payment on a house.

The only risk is that there are too many job seekers in the market now, supply exceeds demand, and competition increases. In addition, the Internet industry is becoming increasingly sluggish, so I need to do more preparation for the interview.

After analyzing the pros and cons, the R&D staff who stayed on all looked forward to being laid off. There were technical colleagues in the same group who had worked longer than me, and their compensation would be higher.

For people like us, we are not worried about our resumes not looking good if we change jobs within a year of working, nor are we afraid of the pressure of job hunting. Instead of working overtime here, it is better to take the compensation and jump to a more promising industry.

Watching the team members leave with N+1,

As a team leader, I began to look forward to being laid off.

Yang An | Teacher at an educational company

I have been working for almost four years, from a team member to a team leader.

I had heard about the industry changes that started last year, even earlier than the company's HR. After all, when the base started to lay off other departments, the entire base was in danger.

In the past six months, many people around me have left one after another. There are seniors who joined the team earlier than me, and interns who are about to be regular employees. Seeing them leave with N+1 salary one after another, I am increasingly looking forward to the day when I will be laid off.

The growth rate in this company is very fast, and the atmosphere in our group is very good. But it cannot be denied that I am gaining weight, my hairline is moving back, and I have trouble sleeping when I am in service. These are all facts.

As a team leader, we will be under greater pressure. We must ensure our own performance and stabilize the performance of the entire team. When we encounter team members with poor performance, we must help each other within the team, and the team leader must also play a leading role as a role model.

Take myself as an example. During the business period, it is normal to get off work at 2 or 3 in the morning, and I can hardly take a full day off on the two days off a week. During the business period, everyone has to be alert and there is basically no rest time.

When doing business, everyone was on the phone, and even students' homework did not need to be reviewed. Everything had to give way to "renewal". After several rounds of layoffs, I knew I was safe, but I just couldn't be happy.

Although competition has decreased, the business volume is increasing.

After the policy was tightened, we had a limited number of class hours, which meant that the tuition fees would be less than before. However, since there were fewer teachers, each person had more clients, so overall the salary was not less than before.

I have a colleague who was laid off and still envies me because he thinks that I still have five insurances and one fund paid by the company and receive a salary every month. In contrast, he only has an N+1 compensation and is completely unemployed.

But this is all based on the assumption that I have no idea of ​​my current workload.

It was the winter vacation period not long ago, and the employees who stayed worked day and night. They not only had to accept the students and parents who were responsible for the laid-off employees, but also had to ensure that their work could be completed with quality and quantity.

In addition, after each round of layoffs, I have an unshakable task to stabilize the colleagues in the group. Whether they are laid off or staying, everyone actually has fluctuations in their hearts. The most important thing is that we can't let the colleagues who stay slack off because of fear, and we can't let the laid-off colleagues complain about the company or even retaliate.

Once, I met a pregnant sister. She was a very nice person, but her mood was not stable. This is not difficult to understand. The company provides good benefits to pregnant female employees, such as paid vacation. In addition, it is not easy for pregnant women to find a new job.

Therefore, I spent a whole day to calm her down, fearing that it would affect her health. But you know, I still have my own business to attend to, and in order to meet the performance targets, I can only stay up late and work overtime.

Fortunately, the number of employees who left the company was still small. After all, they were able to earn money by doing nothing by receiving compensation. I saw that the resigned colleagues were all experiencing intermittent anxiety and continuous laziness. Most of them were enjoying the unexpected vacation.

Looking back at this wave of layoffs, the people who finally stayed were either the backbone of the management or the employees who were always in the top 5% in terms of performance. I am really exhausted struggling for performance in this environment every day.

Now I have figured it out. Instead of working so hard here, I might as well try another industry. I will soon have worked in the education and training industry for four years. After taking into account various expenses, N+1 is more than 70,000 yuan, which is almost as much as a newbie's annual salary in the workplace. Why not?

I slack off at work every day, hoping that the layoffs will come to me soon

Evernight | Real Estate Company Sales

I haven't wanted to do this for a long time, and I'm just silently "hoping for good luck" every day, hoping that I can get the compensation and leave as soon as possible.

At the end of last year, the company had a wave of layoffs, and all my colleagues who came in with me were laid off. To be honest, I don’t think I have any outstanding abilities, but how did I become a “lucky guy”?

I was really envious of my colleagues who left with N+1 compensation. The embarrassing problem was that I couldn't take the initiative to resign, so I wouldn't get the compensation.

But looking back, my mindset has changed a lot, and the initial layoff news was a shock to me.

I had just entered the workplace and had never expected that I would experience a huge change in the industry. At that time, my colleagues who had just joined the company were very anxious, and this emotion was also transmitted to me. We all felt like we were all banding together for warmth.

If I met a capable colleague, their carefree behavior would make me more anxious. The pressure at that time did not come from the fear of being laid off, but I would start to doubt my ability and perhaps be confused about the future.

Anxiety caused me to submit resumes and look for opportunities from time to time, but with the entire industry in a downturn, I rarely received a response.

When the industry was booming, the company atmosphere and benefits were very good, such as daily afternoon tea and monthly birthday parties, which gave people a motivation to work. Of course, the most important thing is the considerable salary, which is very competitive among peers.

Now the whole industry is getting weaker and weaker, the company's performance has been poor year after year, and the good things in the past have disappeared. I still remember that when I received my salary in December, I thought I had mistakenly entered a "charity".

More importantly, my colleagues who were close to me were laid off, and I was in no mood to go to work every day. It was like "going to a grave". This directly led to my laziness in work, and I spent the past few months slacking off.

When I returned to work after the New Year, I saw more and more colleagues being laid off, and many classmates who went to large companies were not spared. I began to review my work in the past two years and gained new insights.

Looking back on my time in this industry, I rarely had time to think about what I really needed and what I wanted to do. It seemed that I was pushed forward by work every day. The enthusiasm I had when I just graduated was also worn away by work.

In the past few years, for the sake of performance and salary, I have not had a good breakfast, have not had a normal rest, and my life is all about work. As my first job after graduation, I think I have done my best. Now the development of the industry is irreversible, and now is the time to cut losses in time.

My current thought is that as long as the compensation is sufficient, you should fire me as soon as possible.

In order not to be labeled as a "hard-working woman",

I feel lucky to be cut at the end.

Chen Tong | Teacher at an online education company

On New Year's Day this year, I was officially laid off.

What I didn't expect was that the moment I received the N compensation, thinking back on my struggles over the past few months, I actually regretted not catching up with the previous wave of layoffs, so that I could have received N+1 compensation.

Before this, my colleagues called me a "workaholic" for trying hard not to be laid off.

The first round of layoffs at our base dates back to July last year. At the beginning of summer vacation, the double reduction policy had not yet been implemented, and offline departments were the first to be laid off. Then, starting at the end of August, when the company's business was at its best during the summer vacation, the double reduction policy was implemented, and online business was also affected, so the company had to transform.

Then came the second round of layoffs. At that time, a 5% elimination system was implemented internally, which was directly linked to the performance of teachers. More than 20 people were laid off from the Chinese language group of my junior high school, leaving 80 people.

At that time, I was really worried. Although I saw my colleagues taking the N+1 compensation and leaving as if nothing had happened, I was very upset.

I remember the first time I saw my good friend who worked next to me get laid off during the summer vacation. I was reluctant to let him go, but I was also worried about my future. After graduating in 2020, I entered the education and training industry, which was at its peak. Now the industry has taken a sharp turn for the worse. What else can I do besides teaching?

Compared to leaving now, I hoped that this industry would continue to develop. At least I wouldn't have to consider big changes like changing careers or jobs for the time being.

In order to avoid being laid off, I started working very hard, and those who stayed worked very hard to "roll up". In the past, I only needed to communicate with 10 students one-on-one via video every week, and the duration was 15-20 minutes. But later, more than 20 students were not enough, because other colleagues had already communicated with 30 or 40 students.

During this period, the leaders also "brainwashed" us. For example, they told us that the company would become a non-profit organization after transformation, and we would only be signed if our performance was good. At that time, the work intensity was really high. Basically, I had to work overtime every day. It was normal to work from 8 am to 11 pm. After all, I still wanted to renew my contract with the company.

But the workload was getting more and more intense, and as a girl, I really couldn't handle it. My mindset changed after the second wave of layoffs. At that time, we were in the service period of the department, which was simply responsible for calling parents, understanding the students' learning situation, and guiding them to re-enroll in the next course.

After two rounds of layoffs, the number of teachers has dropped significantly, but the number of students is still increasing. Our workload is very heavy. I used to be responsible for more than 300 parents, but after two rounds of layoffs, I have to be responsible for more than 700 parents, which is double the number.

The renewal rate is an important assessment criterion for us, especially after two consecutive layoffs, the “lucky ones” who stay must speak with the renewal rate.

When I communicate with parents, it can take a few minutes or more than ten minutes. So my service period is spent on the phone. At the end of the day, even if I drink eight glasses of water, I still feel dry and thirsty. When I get home, I don’t want to talk at all.

The trigger for my desire to just sit back and take the compensation was a renewal form. It was the most serious form I had done since I started working. I marked the renewal intentions of different parents by color, and planned to follow up with them one by one by phone later.

Unexpectedly, at that time, there was already a rumor of collective layoffs in our base, but we, as grassroots employees, didn't know about it and were still "working hard". But what puzzled me was that while our base was being laid off, bases in other regions were still alive and well. In this way, the forms that my colleagues and I worked hard to prepare were later directly given to teachers in other bases by the leaders as "wedding clothes". You know, they can save a lot of effort by calling parents to re-register based on our detailed forms.

After that incident, I completely lost my fighting spirit and just hoped that I would not have to clean up the mess. I would either play Werewolf with my colleagues during work hours or take part-time jobs in offline cram schools on my days off, in order to prepare for being laid off.

The third wave of layoffs began around New Year's Day, and my name was on the list. Everything was as expected. Not only did I no longer feel the loss I had before, I even felt that being laid off was a kind of "lucky".

I breathed a sigh of relief the day I was laid off. I finally didn't have to worry about being laid off and fight for renewal rates, nor did I have to work overtime until the early hours to teach classes. Taking the compensation and leaving the company and the education and training industry was a way for me to start over.

(At the request of the interviewees, Yuan Dian, Chen Tong, Yang An, and Yong Ye are all pseudonyms.)

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.