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Chapter 742: Chapter 732 Recruitment Terms
Zhang Chunwang pondered for a moment and said, "Based on our past experiences with hiring workers, the military spouses who come here to work are all basically from the countryside. It’s true that they know how to work, but perhaps because they know you are also a military spouse, Yunfang, they tend to be a bit overconfident and don’t pay much attention to our management. However, previously we paid them for the work they did, so if they slacked off, we just paid them less and that was that. But if we’re recruiting these people for long-term positions, it’s not really appropriate; we can’t just accept anyone who shows up."
Shen Yunfang nodded in agreement after listening. Working in a factory was indeed different from farming. Moreover, even though it’s an assembly line work in a factory, it could still be dangerous if not done properly.
"There’s definitely a problem with what you’re saying. We really need to think it over when it comes to hiring."
Then, the two most influential individuals in the farm shut themselves in the office for an hour and finally came up with various conditions and benefits for recruitment.
"That’s settled, then. You get someone to copy these down a few more times and post them in a few neighborhoods in the city. As for the military district, I’ll make the calls myself. I think it’s better to give the military district a heads-up when recruiting military spouses to work in the factory." This was also a way to give her own husband more prestige; of course, she would take the most glorious approach. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
"Okay, I’ll get someone on it right away." Zhang Chunwang organized a few sheets of paper on his desk; he needed to make a clean copy later because what was written was a bit of a mess.
After Zhang Chunwang left, Shen Yunfang looked at her watch. It was nearly noon and time to finish up. She went out to check on everyone’s production of distillers’ grains, emphasizing hygiene and quality, before riding her bike home.
After lunch, Shen Yunfang didn’t sleep but leaned over the desk and began to write out the recruitment terms she had discussed with Zhang Chunwang in the morning from memory.
"What are you doing?" Li Hongjun saw his wife busily working after he had finished washing the dishes in the kitchen. It was an unusual sight.
It was only back when she had just had Pangpang and was preparing for the university entrance exams that he had seen her study like this, but he had rarely seen such a scene at home since then.
Without raising her head, Shen Yunfang said, "The processing factory on my side is about to be completed, and now we need workers, don’t we? This morning, I discussed with Zhang Chunwang and decided on some recruitment terms. I’m thinking of first taking this to the military district to make a good impression. After all, since it’s about hiring workers, it doesn’t matter who we hire. If a few military spouses are recruited through the military district, wouldn’t your leaders look at you even more warmly?" Shen Yunfang spoke very straightforwardly; after all, she knew that her husband was not a stubborn man. Although he was somewhat averse to treating people to meals and giving gifts, he didn’t oppose doing something that didn’t hinder their affairs and could curry favor with the leaders.
"Oh, hiring workers again? Is your farm developing quickly?" Li Hongjun asked as he stood behind his wife, looking at the detailed terms she was writing down.
"Yeah, it’s alright. There’s a lot of pressure now; we have to work hard to make money, so we might as well get tired ourselves by processing and selling our own agricultural produce. That way, the profit can double." The pressure she was talking about referred to the debt from bank loans over the past few years and the constant construction of buildings and purchase of machinery, which meant the farm was always operating at a loss on paper.
"Hmm, hiring more people is a good idea. You’re the boss, and once there are more workers, you just need to give them instructions from behind the scenes, no need to do everything yourself," Li Hongjun said while reading over the text.
Shen Yunfang turned around and gave her husband a big smile. It was hard to find such a caring husband even if you searched with a lantern.
"That’s exactly my ultimate goal," she said, wanting to be nothing more than a hands-off manager, earning money while occasionally finding a place to busy herself without neglecting the family.
Afterward, during the lunch break, the couple’s time was directly elevated to one of romance and love, all thanks to the chilly weather—if it weren’t so cold, their bed would’ve probably caught fire.
After the children went to school in the afternoon, Shen Yunfang accompanied Li Hongjun to the military district office building.
Li Hongjun went to work, while Shen Yunfang, with the few sheets of paper she had written at noon, went to the logistics department to discuss the details of recruitment with a familiar senior officer.
The senior officer was thrilled with the good news brought by Shen Yunfang this time. It was well known that with so many military spouses in the family quarters, the military district could only provide about one-tenth of the available job positions, and many of the jobs in the city required education. Thus, the opportunities for rural military wives, who were often illiterate and had lower educational levels, were even scarcer.
It was common knowledge that there was a big difference between one person earning money at home and two. The poorer one got, the more trifling matters they had to fuss over, and the tighter the finances, the more careful they had to be, which also led to more conflicts among neighbors.
For many years, the military district’s logistics department had been committed to solving this difficult problem. But given the bigger picture, their hard work could only create a few additional job opportunities, leaving many rural spouses to stay at home and take care of the children.
Last year, when Shen Yunfang’s farm temporarily hired laborers from the military spouses, the logistics department was very supportive. After all, any chance to earn money was welcome, as it allowed at least some of the wives to alleviate their family’s financial stress through their own labor.
Now Shen Yunfang had come again with a recruitment regulation, telling the officer it was a long-term job. If done well, these workers could be just like the regular staff, working and earning for all twelve months of the year. Moreover, looking at the recruitment conditions, there was no need for high education, just the ability to work hard and follow instructions. This job seemed tailor-made for rural military spouses.
The officer struggled to keep his facial expression composed. "What does the triangle symbol next to the commuting fee mean?" he asked.
"Oh, that," Shen Yunfang explained, "is mainly for our factory workers in the city. They have to travel back and forth every day, which is quite exhausting, and most of them have to take the bus. This is a little subsidy for them. However, our military district isn’t very far from my place, so commuting fees don’t really apply, which means the workers recruited from our military district probably won’t get this part of the pay."
"How can that be acceptable?" the officer immediately objected, feeling it was wholly unfair that city dwellers could receive a commuting allowance of five yuan on top of their thirty-yuan salary each month, while military spouses from his area got nothing. "Yunfang, you’re a military spouse from our district too. How can you favor one over the other? They’re all workers and should all abide by the rules of your factory. Yet, in the end, they’re not treated the same—that’s unacceptable."
"Haha, Mr. Officer, don’t be in a hurry. Let me explain," Shen Yunfang soothed the officer on the verge of losing his temper and then clarified the issues with the bus routes.
Currently, there was only one bus line going to the military district, and its terminal was right at the entrance of the district, not reaching the farm at all. The workers hired from the city were given commuting fees considering the cost of traveling from the city to the district area. The military spouses wouldn’t be taking a government bus, so there was no commuting fee to speak of.
"Of course, if buses start running to our farm at some point, then it’ll be the same for all workers—we’ll reimburse everyone for their commuting costs." Shen Yunfang concluded with that final remark.
