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original title: how much is huawei's expatriate subsidy? ren zhengfei: frontline employees drive hummers and meet the president and ministers. we want to provide employees in difficult countries with conditions that make them proud.

author | glacier squirrel

source | blue blood research (lanxueyanjiu)

▲ exterior view of huawei's chile office

on september 14, this account published an article entitledak47, huawei's afghanistan office is so exciting!”, many fans left comments saying “you want to make money at such a risky cost?!”

huawei serves the communication needs of mankind. ordinary people in dangerous areas also need communications. therefore, someone has to go to dangerous places to do the work. they have to climb mount everest, parachute into the wenchuan earthquake, and rush into the fukushima nuclear leak...

many chinese companies are troubled by the fact that their employees are unwilling to be sent abroad, but why are huawei employees willing to do so? today we will learn about huawei's policy on overseas assignments, as well as the various concerns and support that huawei founder ren zhengfei has for overseas assignments.

mr. li yingyu, who has worked in huawei's human resources system for 14 years, introduced the general evolution of huawei's expatriate policy in his book "thirty years of huawei: globalization from china".

before 2008, huawei employees who were sent overseas could receive a very substantial "settlement allowance", calculated over three years, rmb 200,000 for frontline marketing employees and rmb 150,000 for platform function employees. the company paid the employees once a year based on the length of time they had been sent overseas that year, and no more payments would be made after three years of overseas assignment. both amounts were not differentiated by employee level or country.

this policy greatly stimulated employees' willingness to be sent abroad and played a very good role in motivating huawei's continued development in overseas markets. however, the problem also came. the "settlement allowance" was only valid for three years, and many expatriates asked to return home after three years. generally speaking, an employee would be considered fully adapted to the company in all aspects after working overseas for two years and start to contribute to the company. it is obvious that huawei's strategic goal of vigorously developing overseas markets would not be achieved if the expatriate assignment ended after three years.

in 2008, huawei redefined its expatriate policy. the new expatriate allowances include three categories: leaving home allowance, hardship allowance, and food allowance. all are paid monthly and will only stop when the employee returns home after the expatriate assignment. each allowance has a clear incentive element and purpose.

home-leaving allowance: this is to compensate employees for the difficulties caused by leaving their hometowns, cultural differences and inconveniences in life. the allowance standard is calculated based on 75% of the employee's actual salary. if the salary is less than rmb 15,000, it is directly calculated as 15,000*75%.

hardship allowance: it is a reward for employees who have lived in hardship areas for a long time. according to the hardship level of different countries, six types of amount standards are determined. there is no hardship allowance for the most developed countries. the standards are roughly: category 6 (most difficult areas) 100 us dollars/day, category 5 (hardship areas) 70 us dollars/day, category 4 (hardship areas) 50 us dollars/day, category 3 areas (general countries) 40 us dollars/day, category 2 (more developed areas) 25 us dollars/day, category 1 (developed areas) is 0. the six types of hardship areas mainly include: mali, afghanistan, nigeria, congo (kinshasa), congo (brazzaville), equatorial guinea, south sudan, etc.

meal allowance: this is to ensure that employees have reasonable food input during their assignment, and to ensure their quality of life and health. three levels of food allowance standards (i.e., 15/20/25 usd/person/day) are determined based on the living standards and price index of each country, but the company pays it directly to the local canteen instead of distributing it to employees, so as to guide employees to actively eat in the company canteen and the agreed restaurants. at the same time, family members of "military personnel" also enjoy a food allowance of half of the employee standard, so as to encourage family members to accompany employees overseas.

if an employee with a monthly salary of rmb 10,000 is assigned to a category 6 hardship area, the monthly income he or she can obtain = rmb 10,000 (salary) + 15,000*75% (home leave allowance) + us$3,000 (hardship allowance) + us$450 (food allowance), which is approximately rmb 46,000, and the basic annual income is approximately rmb 550,000. this does not include automatic salary increases, year-end bonuses, project awards, and dividend income.

if a war breaks out in a country, huawei will also provide war subsidies, which are also calculated on a daily basis (you can find on zhihu that some huawei employees have received us$75/day and us$200/day in iraq).

▲ bullet holes in the glass window of a huawei overseas office

for employees sent to difficult areas, ren zhengfei not only provides various policy supports, but also often visits these places to visit employees, so he can pay attention to many details.

ren zhengfei himself does not have a driver, but he requires that in difficult countries and regions, sufficient vehicles should be purchased and local full-time drivers should be assigned. he said: "when employees go out to do things, they should not always drive to dangerous places by themselves. bringing a local driver is equivalent to half a bodyguard." "we should learn from the us military. soldiers on the front line drive hummers everywhere, but only the president of the national defense university in the rear has a special car. we should also be like this. frontline employees drive nice cars and meet the president and ministers. we want to provide employees who work hard in difficult countries with conditions that make them proud, so that everyone is willing to work hard on the front line."

▲ ren zhengfei pulling a suitcase at the airport

when it comes to food security for overseas employees, ren zhengfei is very concerned about the construction of canteens. not only regular regional canteens are built, but also project canteens, which ren zhengfei calls "field canteens." in an internal speech, ren zhengfei clearly stated: "a field canteen can be built for projects with more than 5-6 people. for projects with 2-3 people, employees must be ensured to have delicious meals. the company will subsidize the cost of dining in the field canteen in equal amounts, that is, the employee pays half and the company pays half based on the amount consumed." only when you are full and well fed will you not miss home.

huawei stipulates that employees working on engineering projects in overseas difficult areas must undergo mandatory physical examinations every six months. those who fail the physical examination will no longer be assigned to work in difficult areas. in principle, supervisors at all levels should arrange annual vacations for employees.

in the event of a robbery or other situation that threatens the safety of employees, huawei stipulates that employees should "surrender" and not fight for or protect property, in accordance with the principle of personal safety. employees are even reminded to carry some cash, such as $200, so that the robbers can get something and not take extreme actions.

ren zhengfei also made a clear request: "for offices and accommodation in dangerous countries, the outer walls should remain unchanged, but a layer of reinforced concrete can be laid inside; some steel plates can be added to the walls near the sleeping area of ​​dormitory rooms, and employees are advised not to sleep near the windows."

"for example, you can go to this site and buy a few sheep for the villagers; buy some stationery for the local primary school; take a local with you when you go out, and give a little tip to the outsourced driver, which can also be included in the reimbursement, and it can be handled locally without going back to the company for reimbursement; when it is really dangerous, you can hire two bodyguards... in this way, you can build good relationships with the local people, and once danger occurs, they can help protect our safety, and our employees will feel at ease."

▲ huawei's new office in iraq was bombed

"ultraviolet lamps can be installed in dormitories. when employees go out, they can turn on the ultraviolet lamps and turn them off at night. ultraviolet rays can kill bacteria, including the ebola virus. some people are afraid of mosquitoes and malaria, so why not buy a big mosquito net for everyone? maybe some young people don't sleep well and put their hands out of the bed. the mosquito net can be made bigger and put down at night after all the mosquitoes are driven away."

ren zhengfei also advocated the use of the tipping system in difficult countries and regions. he said: "cadres at all levels should promote the tipping system in their departments. we are already an internationally integrated company. not giving tips is not in line with international standards. giving workers a little compensation is also a way of showing gratitude. if you give a little money to the black nanny and she irons your shirt, you will be like a gentleman when you go out. what's wrong with that? the south african regional department has done a good job in this regard, so the relationship between all parties is very harmonious."

in 2019, ren zhengfei proposed a new standard: the working and living standards of small, micro, hardship and high-risk countries should be higher than those of large countries, and the living standards should reach the living standards of the rich in switzerland. "for hardship countries such as south sudan, comoros, malawi, burkina faso, equatorial guinea, chad, etc., their living standards must reach the living standards of the rich in switzerland. some service facilities must be built by themselves, and gardens, indoor/outdoor sports facilities, small cinemas, coffee shops, multi-purpose halls, etc. are allowed. large chandeliers are allowed. the working environment should also be greatly improved to european standards. for high-risk countries, in order to prevent outsiders from paying attention, the exterior of the house should be appropriately in line with the local folk environment, and the appearance should be like local buildings to avoid attracting attention. however, the interior is of high standards, and the working and living houses used can be purchased, rented for a long time, and can be purchased as a whole."

▲ base station construction inspection route

in terms of internal management, ren zhengfei is very opposed to high welfare, as he believes that welfareism will harm the vitality of the organization. however, for overseas, ren zhengfei implements a high welfare policy. "provide a comfortable working and living environment, especially in small and micro countries with difficult conditions, which should be built according to five-star standards, and at least meet european living standards, so that everyone is willing to stay in these countries for a long time and can work with peace of mind. if "one person, one kitchen, one dog" represents the spirit of huawei, it is not advocated."

huawei's hard work has actually exceeded the understanding of many people.