Even the Boss Went to Work for Someone Else
Pinned: Resolutely oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
After the May Day holiday, there were actually only three working days, but it felt like a long time. This is probably because before May Day, various arrangements were postponed until after the holiday on the grounds of “waiting for the epidemic to pass” and “waiting for after May Day”. Unexpectedly, after the holiday, the high-level officials made it clear that they would “adhere to the dynamic zero-COVID policy without wavering”, and even postponed events such as the Asian Games. As a result, many things still cannot be advanced on site. I had to switch back to online. I communicated online with customers in Indonesia, Qingdao, and Tibet successively. During the chat, I learned that Indonesia has completely lifted the epidemic control, and people ran to the streets to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. Domestic epidemic prevention is still increasing layer by layer, and the more grassroots it is, the stricter it is. If there is any movement, the whole area will be static. Farmers in Tangshan even have to sneak into the ground to work at night. It is really not easy for farmers to grow some grain.
Food security concerns everyone. Although it has always been emphasized that the “four-level chief responsibility system” should be implemented for food security, it seems that only the highest level attaches importance to it. Especially this spring, agricultural activities in various places have given way to the epidemic, seriously affecting agricultural production. Under the consideration of the county party secretary, he chose epidemic control instead of rushing for farming time, probably because the epidemic control within his jurisdiction is not firm, and his hat (position) will not be kept. Grain is fully circulated. If there is a shortage, the whole country will be short. It doesn’t matter if I plant it here or not, or plant more or less. If the people of the whole country have no food to eat, it is not the responsibility of my county party secretary.
Major global institutions and governments generally expect a global food and energy crisis. In addition, major global stock markets are also very bleak. Everyone analyzes the reasons nothing more than the Fed’s interest rate hike and balance sheet reduction, the epidemic causing global supply chain disruption, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. What I observed is that the expectations of both operators and consumers have dropped a lot. Everyone generally lowers investment and consumption expectations to resist possible risks.
First, the market demand for enterprises is seriously insufficient. They have to stop business expansion, lay off employees or reduce R&D investment. The most obvious is that the supply and demand of electronic components were booming last year, but this year there is supply but no demand. Those who hoarded and speculated on components last year have smashed many in their own hands. Now even if they sell at a loss, there are no customers. There is really no demand. If the economy cannot recover, this transmission effect will spread to more industries.
Second, residents compress household expenses. If market entities cannot make a profit, corporate employees will have no income, and they have to take the initiative to lower consumption expectations. During the May Day period, I went to the 4S shop to maintain the car. I sat in the car sales hall all morning, and I didn’t see anyone coming to buy a car or even consult. In addition, camping is very popular this year. As long as there is a lawn, it will be occupied. A family sits in a tent on the grass for a day, and the time passes. There is no catering consumption, no hotel accommodation, and even homestays are not needed. Also, during the May Day Golden Week this year, I didn’t see a crowded popular attraction. Mount Tai, Mount Huang, and West Lake were all quiet. The tourism industry cannot be said to be bleak. At the beginning of this year, I visited a friend’s company in a certain city. After talking about business, I proposed to visit a famous scenic spot there. My friend asked a female office worker to drive me there. On the way, I learned that the eldest sister originally ran a travel agency with more than a dozen people with her husband, specializing in receiving photographer groups who hit birds in local scenic spots. Photographers have money and leisure. They stay at a bird-hitting point for half a day without moving their nests, which is very easy to lead. After the epidemic, the passenger flow was gone, and the travel agency was disbanded. Her husband drives a special car, and she works as an office worker here with a friend. That day in the scenic spot, the eldest sister explained to me very seriously and professionally. Obviously, she still loves this profession.
Even the boss went to work for someone else, so you can imagine the situation of the employees. What is more terrible is that there are more than 10 million new college graduates this year. When the economy is booming, there may not be enough traditional jobs to accommodate these people, let alone now. The earliest manufacturing industry was the largest reservoir for absorbing employment, and later it was the big Internet factories. At the beginning of this year, big factories wanted to “optimize” employees one after another. It is difficult for graduates to enter. Even if they enter, they are generally used by malicious supervisors as future “optimization” objects. Some young people with ideas have begun to take the initiative to be flexible in employment (make a living on their own), working as delivery guys, live broadcasters, podcasters, and airdrop hunters. Maybe this group of people will never look for a 996 job full of blessings in the future.
Because these people do not have a fixed work unit, fixed salary, and no unit pays five social insurances and one housing fund for them, they will not have credit in the national financial system, and they will not enjoy the financial credit services provided by centralized financial institutions. Fortunately, DeFi driven by blockchain as the bottom layer is developing rapidly, and airdrop hunters have been widely involved in DeFi from the beginning. In the future, their credit in the decentralized financial world will be much higher than that in the central bank.
Published at: May 9, 2022 · Modified at: Dec 11, 2025
