A company in China has recently sparked controversy after advertising basic necessities like “free toilet use” and “free use of the lifts” as employment benefits in an advertisement announcing that they are hiring new employees.
According to a report by South China Morning Post, the ad also states that “no electricity charges for overtime” is one of the perks for working at the company. The advertisement went viral recently after an account on Chinese social media called Workplace Slackers, which has almost 4.4 million followers, shared a post about the job listing.
The post did not include the name of the company or the exact job title, but it did consist of a few key details about the job.
According to the post, the job role largely consisted of processing orders which required candidates to have strong proficiency in using Excel for spreadsheets. Candidates were also required to fill out a detailed datasheet of their experience.
The job offers applicants a salary of 4000 Yuan (Rs. 47,500) during the probationary period with double pay on national holidays. The job offered an 8 hour workday with the possibility of 2 shifts.
An early shift which demanded that the employee worked from 9 am to 6 pm and a late one which called the employees at 1pm telling them to work till 10pm.
The job also gave employees the comfort of taking four days off monthly. The advertisement also states that employees will receive a 100 Yuan (Rs. 1188.75) hike in monthly salary after completing one year of service.
Widespread criticism was observed online as netizens targeted the “benefits” of the job which were merely basic human necessities such as access to toilets, working lifts, etc. The job also listed things such as occasional team-building activities, afternoon tea, and late-night snacks as part of the benefits package.
Many users on Chinese social media who have seen the advertisement have now responded with contempt. The post showing the ad which sparked widespread controversy and debate garnered a large number of comments showing their annoyance at the corporation. One comment read “These so-called job benefits should be standard? How can they be listed as perks?” while another online observer asked: “Does this company think it is God or some kind of saviour?”
One commenter also stated, “Scroll through more job apps and you will find plenty of bizarre companies like this.” This comment highlighted the nature of the increasingly competitive job market in China where workers face a long list of challenges, including long working hours, measly pay, bad working conditions, and a complete lack of job security.