The work itself is very relaxed. On-site technicians do not have to attend meetings. During free time, they find places to hide, smoke, and chat, disappearing for 10 minutes every hour. As long as they are not too blatant, they will not be noticed. As for on-site management, supervisors work overtime even more diligently than the operators, because during the 17:30–20:30 overtime period, they usually just wait until after seven to get off work. Since the pay is low, they simply trick people into working overtime. It is quite fun.

The scrap rate is high, and the overall atmosphere is relaxed and carefree. Scrap is simply thrown away without any pressure, and there is not much technical correction or training. In any case, no one knows how to handle scrap properly. When I first joined, a migrant worker showed me the ropes, and everything seemed fine. But then everything ended up being scrapped, which shocked me—“Is it really this careless?” I laugh whenever I think about it!

The monthly salary is 10% lower than the industry average—90% of the usual pay. There is no year-end party or employee trip.

The average annual salary increase is 200. In 2026, the perfect-attendance bonus will increase from 1,000 to 1,200. There was no increase in 2025. It is expected to be adjusted in 2027, because new workers will be hired at the end of next year, and migrant workers will catch up with local employees.

Because the pay is low, most colleagues are resentful. They either work more slowly, leaving plenty of work for the evening shift to handle, or are not very cooperative about working overtime.

Migrant workers use their phones even more than local employees, because local employees’ machines require more manual operation.

This also extends to resignations: the company is happy to hire migrant workers and dispatched workers, so full-time employees only hand over where things are kept, while the technical expertise is lost from the front end to the back end. As a result, future innovation will inevitably require greater costs. Given this situation, it is hard to imagine how the company can retain talent.

Currently, full-time employees earn 32K, while dispatched workers earn around 40K (an hourly wage of 230). The loss of these skilled people will eventually come back to haunt the company; for now, all you see is the increase in defective products.