“Today high salary - tomorrow fired”

An engineer working at one of China's leading technology corporations recently shared his story, attracting a lot of attention from netizens, according to the Iceberg Institute .

When excitedly returning home for Tet, this engineer brought a trunk full of gifts, thinking that this year he could make his family proud. During the family reunion dinner, the familiar question rang out: "What have you been doing lately?"

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Every Lunar New Year, many young people in China face the pressure of being compared if they do not choose a job in the state sector. Illustration: Baidu.

He smiled and replied, "I work on algorithms at Tencent" (one of China's leading technology companies). The table suddenly became silent.

But when the cousin next door spoke up: "I work in the district finance department", everyone immediately exclaimed: "So good, very stable job!".

The engineer just sat in silence. A person who earns more than 1 million yuan (about 3.48 billion VND) a year did not receive a single compliment, while a county-level civil servant with a salary not as high was warmly welcomed.

Not only in family meals, this difference is also shown in love stories. A man who used to work at a large technology company shared that he dated his girlfriend.
girl for 7 years. But in the end, she chose to marry a civil servant.

The girl's mother firmly opposed the young man working in the private sector, worrying: "What private company is safe? Today the salary is high, but tomorrow you're fired, what then?"

A former tech worker who used to earn nearly one million yuan a year recounted that when he met his girlfriend's family, when they learned that he worked for a private corporation, her parents only treated him coldly. A year later, he decided to transfer to work for the State Grid Corporation of China. This time, when he returned to visit his girlfriend's home, her entire family treated him like an honored guest. Thanks to the change of workplace, he went from an "outsider" to an "ideal son-in-law".

The Reason Behind Discrimination

Many experts believe that "payrollism" has been deeply ingrained in the Chinese subconscious for generations. "Stability" is still the most important criterion for many parents in the country of a billion people.

A low-paying government job still gives parents more peace of mind than a 10-figure salary without a "payroll" status.

However, the story is not simply a matter of perspective but also involves interests and social networks in China.

In the thinking of previous generations, people working in government agencies can often support their relatives, from easy medical treatment, preferential treatment in education, to building useful relationships in work and life. They not only bring income to themselves but also create value for their families and communities.

Meanwhile, technology company employees, despite having high incomes, find it difficult to bring
bring practical benefits to relatives in the countryside because these people do not have the need for technology or programming skills. They need more practical help.

This is not only happening in China but is also a common reality in many Asian countries, where the state civil service system still plays an important role.

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