Recently, financial media reported that a former employee of Great Wall Motors revealed that the company had laid off over a hundred employees through non consensual job transfers, salary reductions, and other means. For a moment, the topic of "malicious layoffs" quickly sparked a heated discussion among netizens. The reporter from China Economic Net also noticed that in the context of the global decline in automobile consumption demand, a wave of layoffs has swept through many global car companies, with 9 multinational car companies laying off more than 50000 employees. Under this trend, how to view the layoffs of car companies and how to protect the rights and interests of employees have inadvertently become industry hotspots in this cold winter.

The employee is requesting compensation and is currently applying for arbitration

A reporter from China Economic Net contacted a former Great Wall Motors employee named Xiaoyu (pseudonym) whose labor contract had been terminated, and the other party stated that they are currently undergoing labor arbitration

The company just sent Xiaoyu an online document declaring the end of the employment relationship. At the same time as receiving this online file, the OA (Office Automation System) is no longer able to log in, and some previous overtime situations cannot be queried. At present, Xiaoyu has hired a lawyer to apply for labor arbitration and demand compensation from the company.

In the past two years, facing fierce market competition, it is normal for automotive companies to optimize their organizational structure, reduce staff, and increase efficiency in order to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency. For Great Wall Motors, which has tens of thousands of employees, even if hundreds of people resign, the proportion is still very small. However, the Great Wall Motors layoff incident has still received widespread attention from the industry.

To gain a comprehensive understanding of the current situation, the reporter attempted to contact the Vice President in charge of public relations at Great Wall, but the other party hung up the phone. Subsequently, the reporter contacted a staff member who stated that he was no longer in a public relations position and was unable to recommend others to respond. As of press time, Great Wall Motors has not publicly responded.

Car companies generally offer varying compensation plans for layoffs

Since the beginning of this year, according to relevant reports, several automotive giants including Volkswagen, Ford, and Stellantis have announced plans to lay off more than 50000 employees. Reducing staff and increasing efficiency is not only a challenge facing the Chinese automotive industry.

As the "chain owners" of various industrial chains, car companies have always attached great importance to reputation when laying off employees, and the layoff benefits offered are also relatively generous compared to other industries. Ford Motor, which started laying off employees in China earlier, offered a compensation standard of N+3+5000xN to Ford Asia Pacific Research Institute in June last year. Not only did it successfully complete personnel optimization, but it also received high praise online.

Since the beginning of this year, GAC Honda and Dongfeng Honda have respectively provided N+2+1.8 and N+2+1 compensation plans for departing employees, which are based on the length of service (N) plus two months' salary and an additional 1.8 or one month's bonus, resulting in a situation where employees are competing for layoff positions. What makes netizens envious the most is that Volkswagen China's layoffs offer employees compensation of up to N+6.

Lawyer Zhang Lijun from Beijing Jingshi Law Firm told China Economic Net reporters: "Layoffs and termination of labor contracts by enterprises are two different concepts with different conditions. According to Article 41 of the Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China, if an enterprise encounters bankruptcy reorganization, serious difficulties in production and operation, needs to lay off personnel due to changes in production, major technological innovations, or adjustments in business methods, or if the objective economic situation on which the labor contract was based has undergone significant changes, resulting in the inability to fulfill the labor contract, and it is necessary to lay off more than 20 employees or less than 20 employees but accounting for more than 10% of the total number of employees in the enterprise, after listening to the opinions of the trade union or employees, the layoff plan can be reported to the labor administrative department for economic layoffs. In the above case, the company did not provide a reason for the termination of the labor contract in the notice sent. Xiaoyu can apply for labor arbitration and demand that the employer pay economic compensation at the standard of two months' salary per year of work, which is 2N

Against the backdrop of declining global demand for automobiles, it is understandable that car companies have no choice but to reduce staff and increase efficiency. But in terms of operation, how to protect the rights and interests of employees, how to control the costs of the enterprise, and whether to achieve "just right" in the process of reducing staff and increasing efficiency are key factors at the operational level. However, in any case, enterprises and employees are two interdependent sides. Being able to "gather well and disperse well" without damaging the reputation and brand of the enterprise is not only a practical manifestation of corporate social responsibility, but also a fundamental principle of sustainable development.