Recent graduates had better avoid working for private enterprises. (Personal opinion. Discussion is welcome! )

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Let me introduce myself: I graduated from a 211 university in China with a degree in petrochemical engineering. I have been working for 6 years; after graduation, I changed jobs 4 times. I worked at my first job for 4 years, while I resigned after just half a year at each of the subsequent three jobs – I simply couldn’t tolerate it anymore. Now I plan to take the exams to get a permanent government position. When I just graduated, I was full of enthusiasm. I heard from my teachers that state-owned enterprises operate on a system of seniority, with one position for each person; it was considered a waste of time for young people to work there. I came from a small mountain village at that time and was determined to try my luck outside, so I chose without hesitation a chemical company that was ranked among the top 50 in the country. I remember that on the day of the recruitment, the queue of applicants filled up the entire corridor. When it was my turn, the HR officer seemed extremely impatient. Fortunately, after 8 or 9 minutes of conversation and after flattering them for quite some time, I managed to get hired, albeit barely. Only after really stepping into the workplace do you realize that it’s the same in private companies as well – the leaders of key departments are all close relatives of the owner. As a recent graduate, you don’t even get a chance to attend meetings in your own department, let alone participate in their decision-making processes. In state-owned enterprises, promotions are based on seniority; although one has to wait a long time, it’s still possible to get promoted eventually. In private enterprises, well, it depends on whether you can get rid of your supervisors. From what I’ve observed, middle-level managers in private petrochemical companies are usually recruited from state-owned enterprises. These middle managers enjoy much higher salaries than those in state-owned enterprises, so they’re not likely to resign easily. It was only later that I realized these were actually among the top 50 companies. It’s hard to even imagine what kind of companies rank outside the top 100. Moreover, the gap between such private enterprises and state-owned enterprises is enormous. I won’t go into details about the institutional differences; let me just talk about what everyone cares most about: the working conditions. Frontline workers in private enterprises suffer terribly. There are always endless tasks to deal with on the way to and from work every day, leaving no time for boredom. There is no training for employees in private companies either; managers generally don’t want to provide training and instead expect employees to know everything from the start. New employees are put to work right away without any training. Some people say that one can learn on their own without any training; I say that’s true, but in that case your progress won’t be very fast. Field installations operate for a long time, and problems don’t arise overnight. How can an inexperienced kid like you understand all the intricacies involved? Private businesses have few employees but a lot of work to be done. I know you must be thinking, if there’s so much work, don’t I need to learn more? I can only laugh. By then you’ll realize just how mechanical and simple the things you do are, and how many there are – so many that you simply don’t have time to learn anything new*. Every day, you work like a migrant worker, doing repetitive tasks; there’s no pay for overtime, and it’s almost impossible to leave work on time. During major repair periods, you won’t get a single day off in a whole year; family leave and annual vacation are all taken away from you. The compensation in private enterprises is extremely low; that’s why there is such high staff turnover in these companies – it’s due to the low pay and poor benefits. If what’s required by law to be paid in the form of social insurance and other benefits counts as such benefits, then that’s the only thing private enterprises offer. Will you say it? Speaking of high staff turnover, I’d like to add a few words. Generally speaking, private companies have fewer employees, which leads to higher turnover. With so few people available, each person has to handle more work. If someone leaves, then who will do their tasks? Aren’t they still the ones who stayed? So, your work is never truly finished. Remember, at our company back then, people resigned every week. Of course, it sounds nice when you put it that way; you can say it’s about high efficiency and large production capacity. Of course, I’m talking about most private companies; there may be exceptions, but no matter how good a private company is, one thing remains constant: \"If you want the company’s money, the company will take your life.\" Don’t ask why. Capitalists are profit-driven, after all! Generally speaking, why do we work? Isn’t it for a happier life? In real society, it is impractical to achieve happiness without the support of money. So our idea is the simplest, most straightforward one: do less work, earn more money, and still learn something in the process. I guess this is what constitutes a good job. As for fulfilling one’s personal values and such—ultimately, isn’t achieving those values just a means to make more money? Some people say they simply want to fulfill their personal values by accomplishing great things. I admire their courage, but upon reflection, it seems that in a dying company, even before any values can be fulfilled, we might not even be able to afford instant noodles anymore. So, why deceive ourselves? How can you talk about ideals when you can’t even afford a condom? When you can’t even get enough steamed buns, are you still thinking about realizing your value in a private enterprise? Maybe I’m too practical a person. Anyway, let’s be practical. How can one live without money? I can endure hardship and fatigue, but if there’s no money and no knowledge gained from the work, how am I supposed to carry on with such a job? How can I have any affection for such a company? It’s not easy for private enterprises to say they love you! Of course, private enterprises are not entirely without advantages; for example, the interpersonal relationships are relatively simple, and so on.