news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

"

Because the technical threshold is low, the interview pass rate and the employment rate are high, some undergraduates who are unable to get into the workplace have begun to work in factories to meet their financial needs. From the ivory tower to the assembly line, many people have a new understanding of survival and human nature.

Assembly line, accepting college students who need money

When she needed money, Yang Lifen would send a message to the factory foreman.

Yang Lifen, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in art education, first entered the factory in June 2022. She worked on the assembly line for 4 months and saved more than 20,000 yuan to pay off the student loan she borrowed for college. In March 2023, Yang Lifen entered the factory for the second time. She spent 8 months and saved 40,000 yuan to help her mother pay off the foreign debt.

When she left that time, she secretly swore to herself: never come back.

This summer, Yang Lifen appeared at the assembly line again. This year, Yang Lifen asked the foreman for help for the third time, and on the same day, she got a job inspecting circuit boards at the assembly line. She still needed money, but this time she didn't do it for survival or debt, but to see far away. She planned to save enough money to buy a second-hand motorcycle on the assembly line and go to western Sichuan to see the snow.

Yang Lifen comes from a family where her parents are divorced. Since she was young, she has had to pay for her own tuition, share the family's foreign debts and the money needed for daily expenses.

In 2022, Yang Lifen graduated from an undergraduate college in Fujian. According to the school's training path, after graduation she will enter primary and secondary schools or art training institutions to engage in art education and teaching.

In her senior year, Yang Lifen was assigned to be a substitute teacher at a local elementary school. On days when she had classes, Yang Lifen had to get up at 5:30 to put on makeup and catch the 6 o'clock bus to school. After a full day of classes, she had to go back to prepare for class, often working until one or two in the morning.

The local school offers Yang Lifen a monthly salary of 3,800 yuan, with no meal or housing allowance. For Yang Lifen, who still has student loans and a family debt to pay off, this income is not enough to solve her immediate needs. Work takes up all her time, and she has no room for other extra income. To some extent, the job of an assembly line worker meets Yang Lifen's needs better than that of an institutional teacher. "Except for food and housing expenses, I can basically save whatever I earn," Yang Lifen said.

The factory workshop is also a city that never sleeps. Because of concerns that products such as circuit boards and display screens will be contaminated with dust during the production process, there are no windows in the small 500-square-meter workshop, and there is no natural ventilation. LED lights are on 24 hours a day to provide lighting for the workshop, and also seal the day and night.

Photo: The factory where Yang Lifen works

Working hours are from 7:30 am to 9:30 pm, with 2 hours for lunch and rest. Sometimes when there is urgent goods, Yang Lifen needs to work two shifts (12 hours day shift plus 12 hours night shift) before she can rest.

On the assembly line, Yang Lifen is responsible for circuit board testing. This job does not require much thinking. Yang Lifen does not understand circuits. When working, she only needs to use auxiliary instruments. She puts the circuit board, which is less than the size of a palm, into the position specified by the instrument. The instrument will scan the circuit board. If there is a short circuit or power failure, the instrument will issue a prompt, and Yang Lifen will mark the place where the problem is found.

In a day, Yang Lifen can look at 500 boards.

Yang Lifen doesn't like the noise in the workshop. From time to time, there are the clicks of instruments and the hissing of electricity in the factory, like heavy metal music mixed with the sound of airplane engines. In order to make the workers more energetic when working, the factory prepared two speakers in the workshop, and the workers can connect to Bluetooth to play music. But Yang Lifen just thinks it's noisy.

There are many undergraduates like Yang Lifen who work in factories, including undergraduates from 211 universities. One undergraduate from a 211 university was a little upset. When he went to a factory to look for a job during the summer vacation, he was arranged to work in Shanghai by the recruitment agency that promised to arrange a job for him in Suzhou. However, he decided to endure it, after all, he would only stay on the factory assembly line for a short time during the summer vacation.

According to data jointly released by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the number of college graduates in 2024 is expected to be 11.79 million. Among listed manufacturing companies, there are 6.92 million people with college degree or above, accounting for 44% of the total. This proportion was 34% ten years ago.

23-year-old Chen Yifan has a place next to the assembly line in Dongguan, Guangdong this summer. She is a fresh graduate of the Chinese Department of an undergraduate college in Hunan. In the past year, she took the civil service examination twice and failed consecutively. After graduation, she interviewed for a job as a teacher in an institution under the introduction of a professional teacher, but unfortunately there was no response. The interviewer only said "We will try our best to give you a job opportunity", and then nothing happened.

Unable to find a job for a while, Chen Yifan needed money. Chen Yifan was born in a rural family in Guizhou, and relied on student loans to pay for four years of tuition. Both of her parents are farmers, without a stable income, and she has a younger brother who is in school. Chen Yifan has no income, but she is embarrassed to ask her parents for money. In the end, she relied on her cousin who had worked in the factory for many years and used his connections to find her a job inspecting mobile phone films next to the assembly line.

In order to earn living expenses for the next semester, sophomore Lan Jiaying and her friend Huang Xiaoting decided to work in a factory during the summer vacation. They contacted a local employment agency in Panyu, Guangzhou, who asked them to bring their ID cards and luggage and go to the factory for an interview at 11 a.m. on July 21.

In order to leave a good impression, Lan Jiaying and Huang Xiaoting arrived at 9 o'clock. This was their first time working in a factory. At first, Lan Jiaying and Huang Xiaoting worked as part-time workers in the school - admissions assistants, recommending their schools to suitable college entrance examination candidates and parents every day, from 9 to 5, and earning 50 yuan a day. After deducting daily expenses, Lan Jiaying and Huang Xiaoting could only save 10 yuan a day.

By chance, Lan Jiaying and Huang Xiaoting heard that the factory provided food and accommodation, and the hourly wage ranged from 20 to 30 yuan, and they could save as much as they earned. Before they officially went to the factory for an interview, they searched online for factory work experience and found that there were already various summer job dissuasion posts on the Internet, from the environment to the people, to the working conditions, all aspects were unsatisfactory. But because of the low threshold and high hourly wage, they decided to give it a try.

Entering the concentrated factory area of ​​Panyu, Guangzhou, you can see job advertisements and vacant shops everywhere. Electronics factories, toy factories, and shoe factories are scattered all over the industrial park. A group of people gathered under the shade of trees at the factory gate, talking to each other in groups of three or four, with their suitcases or red and blue woven bags beside them, waiting to be called by the agent.

"Lan Jiaying, Huang Xiaoting." The agent called out the name list. Out of the habit developed from roll call in college classes, Lan Jiaying and Huang Xiaoting shouted "Here" at the same time.

After gathering seven or eight people, Lan Jiaying and Huang Xiaoting were taken by the agent to an abandoned workshop in the factory park. The walls were covered with mold, and the dark green floor still had grooves creased by large machines. On the wall hung a striking "No photography and videography" sign and employee rules and regulations.

There were already 60 to 70 people waiting in the room, most of them middle-aged men from other places. The high temperature of 36 degrees in Guangdong made the factory, which originally had no air conditioning, even more stuffy, and the middle-aged men with their breasts exposed were even more shunned.

Lan Jiaying and Huang Xiaoting received the application form. The agent told them that they only needed to fill in basic information and sign the letter of commitment, and they did not need to fill in the highest degree on their resume. Because they were afraid of being harassed, they specifically filled in "married" in their marital status.

In the factory area, people wearing glasses are eye-catching. When recruiting people wearing glasses, the agency will carefully ask about their eyesight and assess whether it will affect their normal work. On the assembly line of the factory, profound knowledge is not as practical as a strong body. Only those with good physical conditions will be retained. For this reason, Huang Xiaoting was glad that she wore contact lenses that day.

Deviated track

On the assembly line, a high degree of education is sometimes a disadvantage. Yang Lifen was rejected several times because she was an undergraduate. In March 2022, she participated in an interview at a mobile phone manufacturing factory. During the process, she took the initiative to mention that she was an undergraduate. The interviewer heard it, waved his hand and told her: No undergraduates. This happened four times.

The reason behind this is sad. An agent who is responsible for recruiting workers for the factory told Yang Lifen that the reason why the factory is unwilling to recruit highly educated employees is because it is too expensive to hire employees with a bachelor's degree or above. In the factory area, some units have mandatory regulations to pay five insurances and one housing fund for employees with a bachelor's degree or above, while for employees with a college degree or below, not only will the factory not force them to pay five insurances and one housing fund, some will even take the initiative to mention that the factory does not need to pay, hoping that the factory will save this money and give part of it as salary.

With these experiences, Yang Lifen is very grateful to the current factory, which not only gave her a job opportunity, but also increased her salary because of her education. In the factory where Lifen works, those with a college degree or above are considered first-class senior technicians, and those with a bachelor's degree or above are considered second-class senior technicians. Different levels have different basic salaries. Every month, Yang Lifen can receive an additional basic salary of about 400 yuan and a 750 yuan education subsidy.

Once, a female worker on the same assembly line learned about Yang Lifen’s salary slip from another female worker and ran to question the foreman: “Why is she paid more than 1,000 yuan more than us for the same work?”

"She has a bachelor's degree, you should also go and get a bachelor's degree." The female worker shut up, but never gave Yang Lifen a good look from then on.

Yang Lifen did not hide the fact that she went to work in a factory after graduating from university. However, because of this, she was often looked down upon by her relatives. Relatives disliked Yang Lifen for wasting money and said things like "You went to university with a loan, and now you're done, you might as well not have finished."

Unlike Yang Lifen who was frank, Chen Yifan knew that becoming an assembly line worker was a path that went against her family's and her own expectations, and she was not ready to tell her family yet.

Before going to the assembly line, you need to hand in your mobile phone. Chen Yifan missed several calls from his parents. They didn't know that Chen Yifan had entered the factory. Chen Yifan told them that he had found a good job with the introduction of his cousin.

After calling back, Chen Yifan simply explained to them that he was very busy with work here and would be able to call them back after get off work.

The illiterate parents believed it and told Chen Yifan to work hard and not let down the relationship his cousin had found. Chen Yifan didn't dare tell his parents that the work here was not as comfortable as farming at home, and it was not something that could be done by just "working hard". Here, all you can see is the abstract outlines under the dust-free suits, and the surface finish, scratches and number of bubbles of the mobile phone film are tested step by step under rows of cold LED lights. The air is filled with a faint smell of disinfectant, which makes Chen Yifan feel like vomiting from time to time.

Chen Yifan is the first college student in her family. That summer when she received the admission letter, her father stroked the thin admission letter and kept repeating: "It's promising, it's promising, there is also a college student in the Chen family." He was glad that the family finally had someone who didn't have to rely on the weather for food.

Two generations ago, the Chen family were all farmers. Two oxen and three acres of rented land were all the means of production for the family. Relying on farming for food is not only hard, but also beyond one's control. The quality of the harvest depends on God's will. In years with extreme weather, it is inevitable to plant a lot but get a small harvest. At that time, there was only glutinous rice cake on the family's dining table, which was steamed, baked, or fried. Later, when Chen Yifan heard that the meal was glutinous rice cake, he secretly ran outside to pick wild fruits to satisfy his hunger.

At that time, neither Chen Yifan herself nor her parents had imagined that four years later Chen Yifan would become a worker on an assembly line, and her parents, who had worked hard all their lives, could also do her job.

Photo: The factory where Chen Yifan works

When he graduated, an old classmate came to ask Chen Yifan where he was going after graduation. Chen Yifan answered half-jokingly, "I'm screwing screws in a factory." The old classmate laughed and said, "It's better to lie down at home than to go to a factory." After entering the factory, Chen Yifan had little contact with his teachers and classmates.

Her roommates were concerned about her situation. They were all people who had taken the civil service exams and were waiting to be admitted. When they learned that Chen Yifan was going to the factory, they all encouraged her: just think of it as going to the factory first to help pave the way for everyone.

In the school group, people often complained about their bosses ruthlessly exploiting employees. Chen Yifan was very envious and felt that he should be one of them, instead of relying on favors to get a chair to sit on in the factory.

According to Chen Yifan's plan, he should work as a clerk in a government department or enterprise, working in a clean office environment, tapping on the keyboard, processing various documents, and exchanging work experiences or daily life trivia with colleagues in his spare time, instead of listening to colleagues talking about men and children in the background with noisy sounds.

Ways to survive

For college students, how to survive in a factory area is a lesson.

Next to the assembly line, Chen Yifan was given a plastic stool where he could sit when he was tired. It was the most simple style in Guangdong, without any armrests or backrests. Next to the assembly line, it hinted at something special. Normally, this was a treatment only enjoyed by "brothers" and "sisters" who had worked in the factory for more than a year. Thanks to his cousin's connections in the factory, Chen Yifan also had a plastic stool that hinted at his status.

Because of this plastic stool, Chen Yifan enjoyed a lot of special care in the factory. When it was almost time to get off work, some mobile phone films had not been inspected yet, and there were always colleagues coming to help. When she went to the cafeteria late, there were colleagues who helped bring food to the dormitory. Another colleague taught her the factory's inner experience: leaders like to be respected, and they must stand next to the assembly line when they come to inspect.

Chen Yifan felt torn. She hated the world full of human relationships, but at the moment, she had to stay here and live with it. That plastic stool made her not know how to deal with it.

When he received the university admission letter, Chen Yifan looked forward to leaving the society where relationships were important and entering a world where everyone adhered to the spirit of contract.

In the past, Chen Yifan's family suffered a lot in this regard in the countryside. Four mu of their land was occupied by a family in the village and planted with palm trees. The elders of the family went to the village to reason, but because the other party had a cousin working in the village committee, Chen Yifan's family still suffered a loss in the end. Now, the land has not been reclaimed and is planted with palm trees.

The plastic stool reminded Chen Yifan of what she had experienced in the village. On the one hand, she looked down on the social etiquette here, and on the other hand, she could not squeeze into the track she imagined she should enter after graduating from university.

The water in the factory area was deeper than Lan Jiaying and Huang Xiaoting had imagined.

After the interview, the agency held a brief training session for ten minutes, talking about labor discipline and welfare benefits. The word the agency mentioned most was "rewards", emphasizing that summer workers and regular workers get the same pay for the same work, a 400 yuan meal allowance each month, and that those who work for three to four months are considered long-term workers and can receive additional rewards.

It was not until then that the agent revealed that the factory everyone was going to was in Nansha, 35 kilometers away, not in Panyu.

After learning that the work location was different from what was promised, Lan Jiaying asked the agent with doubt: "Teacher, aren't we in Panyu?"

The agent was stunned for a moment, then saw Lan Jiaying's preppy-style skirt. He waved his hand to signal Lan Jiaying to follow the group: "Come on, listen to the instructions. If you don't do it, there will be plenty of people to do it tomorrow." Perhaps in a factory area, verbal contracts cannot be taken seriously.

Lan Jiaying hesitated, but she didn't leave immediately. She set up a code with her friends on WeChat, and called them "iron friends" in case of any emergency. Huang Xiaoting thought it was nothing, "There are so many people here, they won't just scam us two."

The subsequent process was tortuous. They boarded the bus and found that the bus was not heading to Nansha. So they asked the driver and learned that the factory in Nansha was full, so the agent asked the driver to take them to a factory in Dongguan, "since the distance was about the same." But in the end, they were sent to a well-known factory in Shenzhen.

Lan Jiaying was nervous all the way, but when she got off the car, she felt a little relieved - after all, it was a factory.

The two were assigned to a female dormitory with 10 people. When they climbed up the dormitory building with their luggage and appeared at the dormitory door, the eight long-term workers living in the dormitory stared at Lan Jiaying and Huang Xiaoting's every move with explicit eyes, "You can't put your luggage here" "Our dormitory can only accommodate eight people, one more person will be very crowded."

Lan Jiaying looked into the dormitory and saw that the two beds were piled with other people's clothes, which seemed to have been "requisitioned". It was obviously a lie that only eight people could stay there, but the other party didn't seem to care and just made it clear that everyone didn't want them to live here.

The two decided to give in and explained to the female workers that they were only summer workers and would not take up too many hours. But the female workers continued to embarrass them: they could not live there and had to find a way to go there themselves.

At that moment, Lan Jiaying felt the primitive barbarity in the factory area. The civilization, tolerance, and understanding formed by years of education were not applicable in the 20-square-meter dormitory. The awkward atmosphere and ineffective communication made Lan Jiaying and Huang Xiaoting dare not imagine what it would be like to enter the factory in the end. They finally decided to pick up their luggage, stay in a hotel outside for one night, and return to Guangzhou the next day.

It's all about survival.

Yang Lifen admitted that it was very likely that before she turned 30, when she needed money, she would go back to work on the assembly line.

For Yang Lifen, compared with some of her past money-making experiences, such as planting palm trees at the foot of a mountain in Guangxi, the eight-hour shift at a factory with free food and accommodation is simply a paradise on earth. The factory has air conditioning, she can play with her mobile phone, and there are relatively delicious cafeteria meals. She can also sleep well in the dormitory at night.

In April 2023, Yang Lifen accompanied her mother to plant palm trees in a remote village in Guangxi. There was no signal or electricity here, and she had to build her own tent to sleep in, and make her own fire to heat the food. Yang Lifen felt like she was living like a primitive savage, "the only thing missing was eating raw meat."

She also thought about other jobs besides the assembly line. Sometimes she followed the crowd and took the civil service exam. Sometimes she wanted to be a writer, or save enough money to set up a stall. But in reality, there were always things that needed to be accomplished beyond her ideals.

Because she was an undergraduate, the factory foreman would often ask Yang Lifen if she wanted to be promoted to management level, where the work would be easier and the salary would be higher.

However, Yang Lifen refused. She felt that if she really became a foreman, she would be more likely to be permanently welded on the assembly line. She did not want to settle down here forever.

*At the request of the narrator, Chen Yifan is a pseudonym

- END-

Written by Zheng Cailin

Editor: Wen Lihong