But 50 year old applicants need to undergo CT scans, and some factories have quietly relaxed age restrictions

Introduction: For ordinary factory workers, the age of forty or fifty is quite awkward. As long as you re-enter the job market, you will need to face practical challenges, such as whether you can adapt to new positions after losing physical strength, and the consideration of job market age for job applicants.

In mid August, at the entrance of a factory in the Pearl River Delta that had just announced its dissolution, a reporter from First Financial met with technician Zhang Yaqiang and general worker Li Lang. They received the dissolution compensation from the factory and were not unhappy, but the question of where to go after losing this job still lingered in their hearts.

For ordinary factory workers, the age of forty or fifty is quite awkward. Of course, it is best to retire in the factory. If the factory is dissolved and compensation can be received in a timely manner, it is also a good outcome. However, as long as middle-aged workers re-enter the job market, they need to face practical challenges, such as whether they can adapt to new positions after physical decline, and the consideration of job market age for job applicants.

"Keep looking for a job, and if you can't find a suitable one, go back to your hometown," an employee of the above factory told China Business News. Zhang Yaqiang, 50, also had similar considerations. He received nearly 200000 yuan of compensation, but said that the compensation was not enough to support his family. He still had to find a job. If he could not find one, he would return to his hometown.

This factory has been in operation for over 30 years, with younger employees coming and going. After several rounds of layoffs, by the time the factory was dissolved, most of the employees were already in their forties or fifties. About a week after the factory was disbanded, reporters conducted follow-up visits and learned that some employees had found new jobs, but due to the high workload and physical condition, they were unable to adapt and left their posts again. Zhang Yaqiang found a job near the original factory, but he gave up when he heard that a nearly 50 year old applicant wanted to provide CT self certification of good health.

Perform CT before entering the factory

In coastal factories, the recruitment age is gradually relaxed, and 35 years old is no longer the threshold.

During his recent job search, Zhang Yaqiang discovered that the age limit for recruiting general workers in factories is under 45 years old, and factories are also willing to accept skilled workers around 50 years old.

At the entrance of the dissolved company mentioned above, factory recruiter Zuo Qiang is currently recruiting. He told reporters that his electronics factory has more than 3000 employees, with a shortage of about 600 people. It is not easy to recruit now, partly because the factory work is dull and not free. His factory does not have strict age limits for recruitment. He introduced to potential on-site recruiters that anyone under the age of 50 who is suitable for the position can consider applying.

"Why did factories like to hire employees under the age of 35 in the past, but now they are willing to hire employees over the age of 40, because young people feel that working in factories is too tiring to continue. Unlike those who already have families and are willing to work in factories for a long time for wages. Nowadays, many factories here do not say that they do not hire employees over the age of 35, but rather those under the age of 48." Li Lang told reporters that before the factory was dissolved, there were very few young people in the factory, and many of them felt bored after two to three months in the factory and chose to leave.

The factory near Zeng Qin prefers to hire employees under the age of 35. She told reporters that as she gets older, her eyesight and physical strength cannot keep up. However, her factory cannot retain too many young people. About 60% of employees are over 35 years old, and among the more than 100 employees, it is rare to see employees around 25 years old. The factory is turning to rehire retired workers who are willing to continue working. Zeng Qin, who is in her 50s, still needs to support her family. She accepts not signing a long-term contract and stays to do handicraft work.

Zhang Li also discovered that the factory has relaxed the age limit. Zhang Li admitted that there is no age limit for the lighting factory she works in. She can work in the factory from ten to fifty or sixty years old, and there are also students coming to work during winter and summer vacations. Currently, the lighting market is good, and many tasks can only be done manually, which machines cannot replace. Therefore, as long as you are willing, you can continue to work in the factory. However, while there is no age limit, factories do not pay social security and housing provident fund, and only provide labor remuneration on a piece by piece basis.

For workers, relaxing age restrictions in factories is a good thing. But in actual job hunting, some workers are caught in conflicts.

Zhang Yaqiang told reporters that the factory he applied for requires all recruiters to provide health certificates, but also requires CT scans for recruiters who are nearly 50 years old. Zhang Yaqiang believes that at his age, there will be some minor issues with CT scans, and it is highly likely that he will not be able to enter the factory. As for why the factory requires CT scans, Zhang Yaqiang believes that the factory is concerned that when job seekers have physical problems during their tenure, the factory needs to take responsibility. Zuo Qiang told reporters that even though most factories do not have such requirements, it is not an exaggeration for factories to require older job seekers to provide additional health certificates.

It's not easy to return home

Li Lang is considering whether to stay in his current city and continue working.

He is around 40 years old and has not yet started a family. The family pressure is not significant, and he is still resting after the factory disbanded. However, many of his colleagues he knows have found difficulties in finding jobs. Li Lang and Zhang Yaqiang both heard that some colleagues found themselves too busy and tired after entering the factory, unable to support themselves physically, and then resigned.

"Just like a hardware factory, they have to move back and forth to do physical labor, plus overtime, work more than 10 hours a day, and work until 11 o'clock at night, they can't bear it and leave." Li Lang said that his original factory equipment was more advanced, with machines automatically packing and carts for transporting goods. In addition, in recent years, the factory's business has declined. Although the working hours are also about 10 hours, the work intensity is not high, and employees in their forties and fifties can even sleep secretly during night shifts, which is why they are willing to stay in the factory. After leaving his previous factory, his colleagues found that many factories outside were not the same. Even though the salaries were similar, he was tired from work. Li Lang was also worried about whether he could find a job that suited his physical strength.

Li Lang told reporters that if you haven't found a suitable factory job, there is another option, which is to work in logistics. There is almost no age limit for this type of work, and it is also possible to be over 50 years old, and you can receive compensation in the form of short-term work or daily settlement. "However, the logistics were very tiring and I kept moving things. My brother worked for two days and then came out," said Li Lang.

Faced with similar employment problems, factory workers with different family situations have different choices. After the dissolution of the factory, both Li Lang and Zhang Yaqiang can receive 16 months of unemployment benefits. Li Lang hopes to receive unemployment benefits while working as a temporary worker. Zhang Yaqiang, who has two children to support, hopes to become a regular worker in the factory. Even if he "loses" the unemployment benefits, he still prefers a stable and secure job.

The development of manufacturing industry varies in each city, and the wage level also varies. But people who were attracted to job opportunities in other cities when they were young and left factories in middle age inevitably consider the option of working in their hometown, and they are also considering the salary level in their hometown.

On the day of the dissolution of the aforementioned factory, an employee told reporters that his work pace in his hometown factory was different from that in big cities. "I have been working here for 4 years. I used to work in my hometown for 8 hours a day, and I could go home every day. After coming out to work, the hours increased, and overtime was also compensated," he said.

Finding a job was not smooth, and Zhang Yaqiang temporarily returned to his hometown in Hunan. He told reporters that the monthly salary of the local factory was about 2000 yuan, which was only enough to support himself and not enough to support his family. In his original factory, after deducting social security, the regular worker received a monthly salary of 5000 to 6000 yuan, while the skilled worker received a monthly salary of 6000 to 7000 yuan. He is preparing to team up with his former colleagues to look for jobs and is paying attention to job opportunities in the eastern coastal cities. But if there is really no suitable job, he considers driving a taxi in his hometown.

Li Lang's hometown is Huizhou, Guangdong, not far from the city where he used to work. He told reporters that factories in big cities have been relocating in recent years, and Foxconn, BYD, and others have also set up factories in Huizhou. Some factories even have higher salaries than big cities. There is a factory next door to his house, with a scale of three to four hundred people. Going out of the road, there is also an industrial area, and returning to work in his hometown is also an option.

Li Lang is considering a suitable job opportunity. If he cannot handle the factory position, he wants to open a small shop in his hometown. The rent in his hometown is low, and the monthly rent for a shop over 20 square meters in an industrial area is about 1200 yuan. However, the monthly rent for a small store in his current city is often two to three thousand yuan.

A life that never stops retreating

Female factory employees over 50 years old reach retirement age, and for them, whether to continue working is also a question. To support family expenses, even if the factory no longer pays social security for them, finding a job in a place to settle down is still a choice.

Zeng Qin settled in another city with manufacturing as her main industry. After retiring, she chose to continue working in a factory and currently signs an annual contract with a decoration factory. She told reporters that even though orders have declined and wages have decreased recently, the factory does not have high physical requirements. As long as she can do it, she will continue to work.

Zeng Qin's factory mainly produces Christmas tree string lights, with a focus on foreign trade. A few years ago, when the industry was still relatively prosperous, the factory had full orders and worked about 80 hours of overtime a month, with a monthly salary of about 3000 yuan. Now, the factory no longer works overtime, and her monthly salary is 1800 yuan. Although the salary is low, fortunately there is not a high demand for physical strength.

"The factory is willing to let me work for another year, even if the salary is reduced. I still need to support my family and earn an income," said Zeng Qin. Her factory's sales performance has decreased by about two-thirds year-on-year this year. She learned from her 40 year old colleagues in the factory that colleagues use their rest time to find daily jobs to subsidize their families, and found that there are fewer local positions. Small enterprises that used to recruit temporary workers now rarely hire. Zeng Qin, who is unwilling to go out to look for job opportunities, can only accept reality.

Zhang Liyuan, who is in her 50s, has retired and now chooses to work in her hometown. Fortunately, there are many manufacturing factories in the local area, and her lighting factory market has always been good. Without the need for work skills or piece rate compensation, she can freely choose the workload. When diligent, she earns several thousand yuan per month, and when not diligent, she earns several hundred yuan per month. She told reporters that if one day the factory runs out, she will continue to look for work and can do anything, but she cannot be idle.

In the midst of the manufacturing industry's turbulence, industrial transfer and enterprise ups and downs occur simultaneously, and every middle-aged worker who leaves the factory is faced with starting a new job. But how many good roads are there for them to choose from?