In the previous article, we talked about the experiences of the working girls in Qingdao. Why did that boss's wife dare to say such malicious words as "Just jump if you want, if you die, I save money"? In the context of that time, workers were in an absolutely disadvantaged position.

So when job seekers hear that their wages will be delayed for more than a month, they usually become hesitant, as they are very afraid that the boss will not pay them. This has led to a large number of migrant workers wandering in the market; they would rather work as temporary workers, getting paid daily, than accept so-called high salaries paid monthly.

Some bosses often go to the labor market to recruit workers, but later they simply dare not go themselves and instead send older workers from the factory to recruit. The reason is that the boss owes money to others, and these people have returned to the floating market. When the boss comes to recruit again, he may face personal safety issues.

At that time, I personally witnessed such a case. An elderly person was wandering in the market with a recruitment paper and was suddenly recognized by a young man who had been cheated. He immediately shouted that the old man was a fraud, claiming he had worked without being paid. The two then started to argue, and the old man tried to take the opportunity to escape.

However, he was quickly surrounded by a large number of workers, who provided a space to resolve their grievances. The two began to fight, and both sides were injured, while the recruiting old man might have had his eardrum burst, with bright red blood flowing from his ear.

Even temporary work can lead to situations of defaulting on payments. For example, a contractor at a construction site comes to the floating market to recruit workers, but when it comes time to settle up at night, they may not be able to find anyone. But while the monk can run, the temple cannot, and this group of people can still find the relevant individuals. Faced with the lack of personal safety guarantees, the other party often obediently pays the wages.

Therefore, those looking for temporary workers usually do not go to work alone, but in groups of two or three, so that they can look out for each other in case of emergencies.

They are not inherently dishonest people, but are forced to be so by life. Of course, it is even sadder that even outside the floating market, there is mutual oppression among the lower classes in the workplace. Honest people have even less space to survive in such an environment.

At that time, the greatest risk was at construction sites because builders often subcontract to contractors, and once the contractor gets the money, they will immediately run away. To avoid collective retaliation, they will pay those who are difficult to entangle, even giving them extra to send them away or to deceive others.

These people, for their own interests, often comply with the contractor's wishes, going back to say that the other party has run away, and in the vast sea of people, they cannot be found, so it is better to just accept their misfortune and disperse.

Such tactics are usually effective, but there can also be exceptions. Since the group is composed of small groups from various places, some small groups will continue to collect debts for their interests.

The most dramatic among them is that some people used the beauty trap. Some added the contractor on WeChat, and then they collectively pretended to be beautiful women chatting with the contractor, firmly believing that nine out of ten men are lustful.

The contractor was not a good person to begin with, indulging in drinking, gambling, and other vices, and naturally would not miss the opportunity to harm women. When the contractor came to harm the beautiful women as agreed, he was caught by this group of people and had to settle their wages.

This is a true story that was reported in the newspapers at the time. When I saw this news, I couldn't help but find it amusing, while also feeling sad.

That period was basically the golden age of real estate, so on the surface, it seemed to solve a large number of employment problems for migrant workers, but in reality, it only benefited real estate developers, contractors, and some other forces, while migrant workers did not gain any dividends and even suffered serious damage to their legal rights.

Now the real estate industry has declined, and vacant houses could accommodate everyone. The state has also regulated and strictly controlled this sunset industry, but its problems may take many years to dilute, and it has to promote the issuance of a large amount of paper currency to alleviate financial risks.

As a result, the wealth of those struggling to make ends meet has rapidly shrunk. They have to seek more job opportunities to meet their survival needs. However, with the impact of the pandemic and its aftermath, the development of enterprise platforms has not been very smooth, and the positions offered are relatively limited. Coupled with the influx of so many graduates into the market every year, the employment situation has become even more severe.

In such a situation, those who simply sell cheap labor will gradually become solidified at the bottom of society, needing to rely on more generations to achieve the revival of their families.

Of course, the reasons for this situation are complex and systemic. This includes insufficient innovation in enterprise platforms and the aging of productivity. The new era has also imposed stricter demands on them regarding how to solve this economic puzzle.

The new era makes us realize that workers are no longer the simple tools of the past, but rather active productive forces. Whether it is advanced scientific technology or ordinary operational procedures, the human factor has become increasingly important.

First, the survival issues of the entire social population have basically been resolved, and there are no longer large-scale occurrences of begging for survival. They yearn for a better future, so essentially, they cannot allow the quality of life to continue to decline in their own wisdom.

Therefore, their ability to act will only exert its maximum value when they recognize the future development prospects within their wisdom. Any platform that cannot mobilize this maximum value will actually cause a loss of potential.

Secondly, the solidification of talent has been broken, and open education allows anyone willing to work hard to succeed. Of course, this process is still accompanied by the influence of outdated concepts, but these outdated concepts are destined to be purified by society in the future.

On one hand, with the gradual passing of the elderly, and on the other hand, with the gradual expansion of new concepts, the popularization of new concepts is merely a matter of time.

Therefore, if enterprises themselves cannot keep up with this trend and remain stuck in the thinking model of thirty years ago, using past standards for recruitment, then the enterprises themselves are weaving a cocoon for themselves. In the short term, this harm may not be noticeable, but in the long run, enterprises will definitely fall into difficulties.

Again, age standards may become the biggest joke of the era, a joke that may need to be viewed from the mid-century of the future. Now we see that age standards still seem to be mainstream. However, this does not meet the demands of the times and will inevitably be broken by the times. Any system that clings to age will definitely suffer value damage in the future.

Finally, I want to say that the times are already demanding kindness towards honest people. Only by treating honest people well can we maximize their value, and only by treating honest people well can they create greater wealth.