Li Shufu: Geely staff will be the highest income in China

The two conferences in 2011 immediately concluded that the “employment shortage” phenomenon encountered in the transformation and upgrading of China’s auto companies and the “wage gate” that some auto companies have caused due to employees’ compensation problems have recently become the focus of government departments at all levels, the automotive industry, and the public. focus.

In this regard, members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Chairman of the Geely Group Co., Ltd. Li Shufu will submit proposals on “Improve the first-line workers’ income and achieve the goals of corporate transformation and upgrading” at the two sessions. In an exclusive interview with reporters, Li Shufu disclosed that he is working out the ultimate goal of realizing Geely employees’ “highest income in China”.

CPPCC National Committee Member and Chairman of Geely Group Li Shufu Interviewed by Reporter

Li Shufu mentioned that Geely’s front-line employees’ income is currently at the mid-to-upper level of the industry. The future goal is to ultimately achieve “the highest income in China” for Geely’s front-line employees—here “the highest in the country”. It will include all foreign investment, joint ventures and autonomy in China. The company's front-line employee income standards. According to reports, Geely's first-line employees' wages rose by 15% to 20% per year. Li Shufu believes that Geely's employees' income has now reached the highest level of similar self-owned brands.

97 years ago, the American car giant Henry. Ford used the method of “double the salary and one hour of working time” to successfully solve the “labor shortage” faced by the rapid development of the company, and finally rewritten the American auto consumption pattern, and cultivated blue-collar workers with stable purchasing power. The class; 97 years later, Li Shufu, who was evaluated as “Chinese version of Henry Ford”, was prepared for the reenactment of this scene nearly a hundred years ago?

A survey showed that as of 2010. The monthly salary of automobile assembly companies working in the production line is RMB 1800 to RMB 4,000. The number of engineering personnel engaged in product R&D and design is slightly higher, which can generally reach RMB 3,000 to RMB 5,000. In the domestic automobile industry, the annual salary of front-line workers in joint ventures is basically higher than that of self-owned car manufacturers, and the gap is approximately 10,000 yuan. In joint ventures, European and American car companies are generally higher than Japanese and Korean companies. In the survey, the workers of FAW-Volkswagen paid the highest salary, and the annual salary of front-line workers in the assembly line was up to RMB 70,000. The annual salary of front-line workers in Japan-Korea joint ventures is between 30,000 and 50,000 yuan. The pay gap between the two enterprises and line workers is nearly doubled.

What is the specific annual salary of Geely frontline workers? What is the difference with the joint venture? How to grasp the delicate balance between increasing employee income and cost control? The success of Henry Ford’s "rising salary strategy" is inextricably linked with the production of automobile production lines that drastically reduce manpower and time costs. Geely's "highest domestic compensation" strategy will also have innovative technological means to defuse the salary of employees. Cost pressure? Li Shufu did not answer this question positively. However, regarding the goal of creating "the highest wages for all front-line workers in China," Li confirmed that he was already formulating and studying specific plans for implementation. It is not difficult to see that he is full of confidence in this.

The following is an interview record:

Reporter: Your proposal is for the benefit of the front-line employees of the company, similar to Henry Ford's salary increase system that created "American blue-collar middle-class workers." Ford invented the world's first automotive production line to ease some of the salary pressures. In the face of fierce competition in the Chinese auto market, how does Henry improve the balance between employee treatment and cost control?

Li Shufu: The proposal I mentioned is not based on Geely's front-line employees, but is based on the front-line laborers in the country. This front-line worker not only refers to front-line workers in industrial enterprises, but also includes all fronts. The front-line workers, including banks, including communications, electricity, etc., should all have improved their social status and their legitimate rights and interests should be guaranteed. The problem facing the whole country now is the adjustment of the industrial structure and the transformation of the economic growth mode. The basic element of this adjustment and transformation is how to improve the status of front-line workers and improve their literacy. Now everybody is not willing to do first-line workers.

First, too hard. Second, income is too low. Third, the political status is not high. So everybody is unwilling to learn skills, is unwilling to accept the training of technicians and is not willing to work. The final result is that the quality of Chinese products is difficult to guarantee, technology is difficult to improve, and innovation ability is difficult to improve. The overall image of China as a whole cannot be improved. The branding of the entire Chinese product cannot be improved. It is because these problems are all due to the fact that China's front-line workers are too low. My proposal does not refer to Geely, but rather to China as a whole. Do you not interview members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference? Not a member of the CPPCC National Committee for Geely. We always say that we are choosing Geely as a proposal. No, it is not.

Reporter: The reason why this question was asked is because you, as an entrepreneur with many front-line employees, may have more say in this issue. What is Geely doing? It can balance the cost of product control and the income level of front-line employees. What can other companies learn in the future?

Li Shufu: To increase the income of front-line employees, this should be unified nationwide. The state must have laws and policies to safeguard the status of front-line employees. Under this premise, all companies must respond to the implementation. It is simply an enterprise to do so. If other companies do not do so, then all the problems that have just been discussed in China can't be solved. For now, Geely has done a very satisfactory job in this respect.

First of all, Geely wants to increase the income of its employees every year. It needs to be raised every year. The rate of increase is certainly not the same. We want to strive for 15% to 20% per year. However, I think that it is still not enough to increase this level. After that, if it is increased, will it affect the competitiveness of the enterprise? On the contrary, I think that after the increase, although some costs have been increased, it is very helpful to improve the competitiveness of enterprises, to increase the enthusiasm of employees, and to increase the cohesiveness of employees. Do not think that this increase in wages seems to increase the cost of the company. This understanding is completely wrong. The purpose of my proposal is to ensure that nationwide attention is paid to the social status, political status, and income of front-line employees, and that labor glory should be advocated instead of people working in the field. Instead, this position is not as good as people who are not working. So high, then everyone is not working. China’s economic development is to be based on a very solid and very solid foundation. This kind of soundness and solidity is to improve the literacy of front-line workers, raise the level of skilled workers, and protect their enthusiasm. Social status and political status must be protected, that is, these are fundamental to the long-term development of the Chinese economy. So I wrote this proposal.

Reporter: Are you referring to front-line employees not just manufacturing?

Li Shufu: It is not said that all industries including the manufacturing industry, all fronts, and these front-line employees are talking about hands-on activities.

Reporter: If the state wants to issue a policy or a call on front-line employees, isn't the state should have a political definition of front-line employees?

Li Shufu: That's for sure. What I'm proposing is a big concept and direction issue. If you specifically implement it, the workload is very large. This involves the problem of the management capacity of the entire country.

Reporter: What do you think about the role of taxation leverage? The fuel tax has been divided between the central government and the local government. Is the supporting infrastructure used for fiscal revenue to keep pace with the government's drive to develop the consumption and use of automobiles?

Li Shufu: Resolving the problem of car congestion is an important issue in China’s modernization process.

Li Shufu: China is undergoing a modernization project. You should agree with it. Then the modernization construction, in which the construction of infrastructure is very important. Without the construction of infrastructure, this modernization will also become empty talk. Therefore, mobilizing and encouraging local governments to solve the problem of car congestion is a very important issue in the process of China’s modernization. If this problem is solved and infrastructure is perfected, it will play an important role in promoting China’s modernization drive. The positive effect.

Yaohao can not solve the problem of people buying cars

Reporter: Do you think you can solve the congestion problem?

Li Shufu: Of course it can solve the congestion problem, but it can't solve the problem of people buying cars. How can we solve the problem of congestion and solve the problem of people buying cars? That method is not better.

Reporter: How much influence does Geely have?

Li Shufu: For Geely's dealerships in Beijing, it was originally well controlled. We didn't develop too many dealers. Therefore, relatively speaking, there are influences, but the impact is not great.

Reporter: Road construction is a problem of driving, and the proposal also talked about the issue of parking. We see that the case of Japan will introduce private capital in the construction of parking lots, including Toyota’s cooperation with Japanese city parking lots. If the state allows private capital to do construction including parking and parking management, will Geely bring capital to intervene in this area?

Li Shufu: If this proposal is adopted, the problem of parking lots is not a problem at all. Local governments will actively create conditions to solve this problem. If the problem of parking lots is not solved, the enthusiasm of ordinary people to buy cars will be discounted. . If the government plans to park a car park and there is no money to build it, people in the community will definitely invest in building the car park because they expect more and more people to park in the future. So the fundamental problem is still to solve the problem of local government's enthusiasm, as long as the enthusiasm of local government comes, the problem of road congestion, parking problems, or the problems around the car can be solved, as long as the local government feels that he In this place, the more cars are used, the more local government revenues are, and local governments will surely

Geely employees are treated as the highest annual salary increase of 15%-20% in their own brands

Reporter: What is the level of real compensation and benefits for Geely front-line employees? What are the benefits? What is the level of comparison with other similar companies in the country?

Li Shufu: It is not the highest, nor the lowest, which one ranks the staff. If we talk about front-line employees, we can see which company is compared with the overall level. We are now working hard. Every year, we have a goal. The ultimate goal is to realize that the employees working in Geely have the highest income in China. We are making plans and we will study how to achieve it.

Reporter: Among the autonomous companies of the same category, include joint ventures and foreign companies?

Li Shufu: Including joint ventures and foreign companies, it is the highest in autonomy.

Reporter: How much is going up each year?

Li Shufu: 15%-20%.

Reporter: Your two-party proposal is in line with Premier Wen Jiabao's speech, stating that you fully explained the relevant policies of the Central Government when you proposed the two meetings. In terms of your proposal, what is the relationship between Chinese entrepreneurs and the government?

Li Shufu: It is the relationship between leadership and leadership. Chinese entrepreneurs must also work under the leadership of the party and the government.

Reporter: As far as you are concerned, how can companies effectively communicate with the government?

Li Shufu: We are working under the leadership of the government. What the government wants us to do and how we do it is very important. This is a very important principle of China's market economy. There is nothing to discuss, I think Listening to the party and doing things according to government directives are definitely correct.

Reporter: Do you have any suggestions for the revision of the 04 automobile industry policy?

Proposed Industrial Policy to Improve the Technical Standards of Chinese Automobiles

Li Shufu: My only suggestion is to raise the technical standards of Chinese automobiles. After the standards are too low, waste of resources and high standards will benefit the progress of China's automotive technology.

Reporter: What specific standards can you talk about?

Li Shufu: Many, for example, fuel economy, standards for environmental protection emissions, safety indicators, vehicle size, weight, and other technical indicators.

Reporter: You just said that you might want to stimulate consumption. Do you think that this year's overall forecast of the car's momentum, how much do you think it will grow?

Uncertainty overlaid this year's Chinese auto market trend is difficult to predict

Li Shufu: Everyone says about 10% or so, then who knows, maybe 10%, maybe no growth, maybe negative growth, it's hard to say. With the global economy, China's economy, this macro level is completely linked. If we say that the entire macroeconomic environment is good, people have more money in their hands and more people buy cars. If we say that this road congestion problem is solved quickly and the effect is good, there are many people who buy cars. If the price of oil does not rise too fast, or if it does not rise, or even if it drops, there will be more people buying cars. So this is all linked together.