Old K says every week – Talking about things in the petrochemical engineering design industry. Post 36: Looking back on the past – My first workplace

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Old K writes every week – Tales from the petrochemical design industry, Post 36: Looking back on the past – My first workplace was a design institute affiliated with the Ministry of Chemical Industry (which was dissolved in 2001); a total of 21 people started working there together. The institution is a public service organization with over 1,300 employees; its salaries, benefits, and all other expenses are funded by the Ministry of Chemical Industry, which also assigns the design and research tasks. Although the economy was beginning to recover at that time, due to the fact that it was still a planned economy, there wasn’t enough work available; the practice of having just tea and a newspaper while at work still existed. Many young people found it difficult to adapt to such working conditions, and with the introduction of reform and opening up, many of them left their jobs. At that time, various ration cards such as those for grain, oil, and cloth were still in use. People’s salary levels were more or less the same; they hardly changed from the founding of the People’s Republic of China until around 1989. Salaries were higher in border regions such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. In the mainland, university graduates earned 54 units while workers earned a little over 30 units. A few veteran revolutionaries received higher salaries; there was one such veteran in the unit whose nickname was 208 – his salary was 208 units, which was considered quite high at that time. Everyone tries to take any opportunity to go on a business trip, as there are subsidies available for such trips. When traveling by train, if one does not choose a sleeper berth, 60% of the difference between the cost of a sleeper berth and a regular seat is still compensated to the traveler. As a result, some senior employees who go to the salt lakes in Qinghai for business trips prefer to travel on regular seats, even though it means more discomfort, during the two-day, two-night train journey. I went on a business trip to the salt lakes in Qinghai. Due to the high altitude and harsh conditions there, a higher allowance was provided for the trip. I remember one veteran who was about to retire and requested to go on a business trip to those salt lakes; he suffered a heart attack there and lost his life. Travelling on business was quite interesting back then; often several people, sometimes even a dozen, would travel together. We all carried large yellow bags provided by our company, which were placed side by side on the train’s luggage racks – it was quite a sight, as it was clear that they all belonged to the same company. On the train, we would play poker together. Old colleagues often tell stories about the romantic affairs that used to take place in the workplace, which brings laughter. Even during the turbulent years of the Cultural Revolution, such romantic affairs were not rare; perhaps this is just human nature. Looking back, although people lived in relatively poor conditions back then, the pressure wasn’t as great as it is now, and there was less competition. The economy has developed and the times have progressed, but some things have indeed regressed. Tip: You can enter “Lao K’s Weekly Thoughts – Insights into the Petrochemical Design Industry” in the website’s search engine to view previous posts