I'm back in 1990

Chapter 1111: Anxiety about the Future

"Mr. Huang, this is the audit report for Shidai Commerce and Trade for last year." After the Spring Festival, Huang Xiaochuan returned to his office in the Guangda Real Estate Building in Pudong to start working again.

Before a pot of tea was even brewed, Gao Song delivered a thick stack of documents.

Seeing that his boss was busy making tea, he placed the document next to his boss and then left.

After finishing his tea, Huang Xiaochuan began to examine the annual audit report. He looked at it very carefully, and it wasn't until more than an hour later that he put the report down.

Jiang Bixing did a good job. The report shows that last year, the marketing data of the entire Shidai Commerce Group increased by 11.4%, a year-on-year increase of three percentage points...

However, Huang Xiaochuan was not happy about the data growth of Shidai Commerce Group. He saw that the development of artificial intelligence was unstoppable, and the most likely to be replaced were the basic positions. What would happen to the employees of Shidai Commerce Group then?

Just then, the intercom rang, and Huang Xiaochuan pressed the button: "What is it?"

"Mr. Huang, General Manager Jiang from Shidai Commerce is here."

"Please let him in."

Soon, Jiang Bixing appeared in Huang Xiaochuan's office.

"Come, have some tea!" Huang Xiaochuan placed a teacup in front of Jiang Bixing.

"Thank you!" Jiang Bixing was very experienced. He first smelled the aroma of the tea before he began to taste it.

Huang Xiaochuan glanced at Jiang Bixing and suddenly said, "Old Jiang, you've worked hard."

Jiang Bixing was taken aback. Why was she suddenly being so polite? It made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Although the two had known each other for over twenty years, as Huang Xiaochuan's wealth grew, Jiang Bixing found that the gap between them was widening, to the point where he had to look up to him. So, more than ten years ago, Jiang Bixing no longer dared to address him as he had in school.

Seeing Jiang Bixing's expression, Huang Xiaochuan smiled and said, "I've read last year's audit report, and it's very good, which is why I said you've worked hard."

Just as Jiang Bixing was about to say a few words of modesty, he was interrupted.

"Old Jiang, it's been a long time since we sat down for a proper chat, hasn't it?"

Jiang Bixing nodded: "Yes!"

Huang Xiaochuan glanced out the window and said, "I'm reminded of those times we ate noodles together..."

Jiang Bixing knew exactly what Huang Xiaochuan was talking about, and he immediately followed up with, "Let ordinary people get a dignified job."

Huang Xiaochuan looked at him and said, "That's right! Twenty-one years, and you did it."

"No, no, no, without you, how could I have done it alone? It should be said that we did it." Jiang Bixing dared not take the credit for himself alone.

However, Jiang Bixing is indeed very proud. In 21 years, the former Times Supermarket has developed into Times Commercial Group. As of December 31 last year, it has a total of 517 Times Super Shopping Centers, 113 Tims Supermarket warehouse membership supermarkets, and 43 Times Square commercial complexes. The group has more than 200,000 employees, the vast majority of whom are front-line stockers, cashiers, cleaners, and security personnel.

The employee benefits at Times Commerce Group are renowned throughout the retail industry and even across China.

The starting salary for frontline employees is twice that of the industry average, and all of them are directly contracted full-time employees with no outsourced staff. They are paid social insurance and housing fund upon joining the company, and the payment is not based on the minimum base, but on the full amount of their actual salary.

Employees have 15 days of paid annual leave each year, and those with more than 10 years of service have 20 days of paid leave. In addition, each store has an employee canteen that provides three meals a day free of charge.

The group also allocates 10% of its profits as employee bonuses each year, distributed according to seniority and performance. Even frontline employees can receive bonuses equivalent to three to six months' salary each year.

More importantly, Times Commerce Group has a unique system that no other company has: the "Employee Grievance Channel." Any employee who believes they have been treated unfairly at work can send an email directly to the Employee Relations Department at the group headquarters, or even directly to Jiang Bixing's office email address.

Every email is read, recorded, and followed up. Every year, Jiang Bixing also sets aside a total of two weeks to make unannounced visits to front-line stores across the country. He does not give prior notice, does not send any notifications, and does not bring any accompanying senior executives. He goes directly to the stores to talk to the employees and eats in the cafeteria.

This was something I learned from Huang Xiaochuan, because it was Huang Xiaochuan who did it from the very beginning. Last year, in a Times Super Shopping Center in Chengdu, Huang Xiaochuan sat at a table with Lao Zhou, an employee in the fresh food department who had worked there for eight years, in the staff canteen.

Old Zhou didn't know who the person sitting across from him was at the time. He thought it was a cadre sent by the district to conduct a spot check, so he reported something.

They said that in the summer, the air conditioning in the fresh food section was too strong, and their work clothes couldn't keep out the cold, causing their joints to ache. According to the dress code, they couldn't wear their own clothes. They complained to their superiors several times, but were told that it was a uniform dress code for the store and couldn't be changed.

After finishing his meal, Huang Xiaochuan called Jiang Bixing and asked him to revise the uniform standards for frontline employees as soon as possible, and also to provide fresh food employees with warmer uniforms.

Jiang Bixing often said at senior management meetings: "Our group's most valuable assets are not those commercial real estates, nor those stores with full ownership rights, but the employees who trust us."

This sentence, along with the phrase "Let ordinary people obtain a dignified job," is now engraved on the wall of the lobby on the first floor of the Times Commerce Group headquarters, in the most prominent position.

Looking at Jiang Bixing, who was still full of vigor, Huang Xiaochuan didn't know what to say.

In ten or twenty years, artificial intelligence may sweep through all industries with overwhelming force. The first to be affected will be human customer service being replaced by intelligent customer service, followed by data entry, financial accounting, and warehouse management. The retail industry, as a representative of labor-intensive industries, will be the most severely impacted at that time.

Automated checkout machines will replace cashiers, stocking robots will replace stocking robots, AI inventory management systems will replace warehouse managers, and even food delivery may be taken over by drones or delivery robots.

What to do with 200,000 employees?

The vast majority of the 200,000 employees of Shidai Commerce Group are ordinary people with low levels of education, limited skills, and older age. Many of them joined Shidai Commerce Group a long time ago, starting as ordinary stock clerks. With the stable income and sense of dignity provided by the group, they got married, had children, bought houses, and paid for their children's education. For them, the group is everything.

If one day, Times Commerce Group is forced to issue a cold announcement: "Sorry, due to the development of artificial intelligence, the group will have to lay off half of its positions."

Thinking about all this, Huang Xiaochuan felt a little irritated.

Moreover, he can't tell anyone about this right now.

Few people would have believed the statement made in 2014 that "ordinary jobs in the future retail industry may be replaced by robots with artificial intelligence."

Even Jiang Bixing wouldn't believe it; he might even think Huang Xiaochuan was under too much pressure and had gone crazy.