Pay half a month's salary immediately upon reporting? Baoneng Auto recruits! Just experienced a wave of layoffs and unpaid wages

"Pay half a month's salary immediately upon reporting?" Recently, Baoneng Automobile recruited new employees and there are rumors of launching this measure.

An insider from Baoneng Automobile confirmed to a reporter from Shanghai Securities News that the above-mentioned recruitment has started, but it is uncertain whether the requirement of "half a month's salary immediately upon registration" can be implemented.

Paradoxically, Baoneng Automobile has not made smooth progress in the near future.

On the morning of July 31st, Yao Zhenhua, Chairman of Baoneng Group, was besieged at the Shenzhen headquarters, and unpaid employees demanded payment of multiple months of unpaid wages. Afterwards, Yao Zhenhua decided to lay off employees, involving Baoneng Group's Baoneng Automobile.

Recently, Kunshan Juchuangxin Energy Technology Co., Ltd., a battery company under Baoneng Automobile, was transferred to bankruptcy as a debtor in an execution case.

The reporter recently visited and found that Baoneng Automobile's Xi'an base is basically in a stagnant state, with production equipment in multiple workshops covered in dust, and the land use rights of corresponding plots have been reclaimed by the local government.

Image: Qiu Dekun, a reporter from Shanghai Securities Daily at Baoneng Automobile Xi'an Base/Photo taken

So what is Yao Zhenhua's intention for Baoneng Automobile's recruitment this time?

After layoffs, Baoneng Automobile will recruit employees

On September 8th, the Baoneng Automobile Human Resources Center held a meeting to announce that Baoneng Automobile will immediately start the recruitment of new employees, promising that the salaries of newly recruited employees can be paid normally, with half a month's salary paid first upon registration.

"This is what a person in charge of human resources at Baoneng Automobile said during a job fair." Baoneng Automobile insiders confirmed the above matter.

The reporter noticed that there is still controversy over the claim that "half a month's salary is paid upon reporting", but recruitment for Baoneng Automobile has indeed begun.

According to a certain recruitment platform, it can be seen that Baoneng Automobile still has multiple job postings in the Xi'an and Shenzhen regions, including strategic planning manager, big data development engineer, autonomous driving product planning director, CAN bus testing engineer, etc.

Strangely, Baoneng Automobile just experienced a wave of layoffs over a month ago.

On the morning of July 31st, after being surrounded, Yao Zhenhua broke away and entered the Baoneng Center to hold a meeting, announcing the reduction of team size, including significant layoffs for Baoneng Automobile.

On the morning of July 31st, Yao Zhenhua was surrounded by former employees of Baoneng Group

At that time, Yao Zhenhua said: "All those who do not act, lie flat, do not take responsibility, and do not comply with the requirements of discipline and rules will leave."

Baoneng Automobile has recently responded that the company has always had recruitment needs, which is not the latest announcement on the same day. Baoneng Automobile has always dealt with employees who are negligent or have violated discipline in their positions, and sometimes when the business temporarily shrinks, they will clean up the salespersons.

Admitting unpaid wages, recently fined

The question is, can Baoneng Automobile pay its salary on time for this recruitment?

At present, Baoneng Automobile, as the debtor, has been executed with a total amount of 3.539 billion yuan and has been listed as a dishonest debtor multiple times, involving multiple lawsuits.

On August 30, 2023, 305 employees of Baoneng Group were fined 50000 yuan by the Luohu District Human Resources Bureau of Shenzhen for failing to pay their salaries in full and on time in accordance with the law from March 2022 to April 2023.

On August 3, 2023, Baoneng Group issued a statement regarding Yao Zhenhua's encirclement, stating: "The vast majority of operating units are paying salaries normally, and some operating units with delayed salary payments are making every effort to resolve the issue."

The authenticity of the above statement by Baoneng Group remains to be debated. Previously, the departing executives of Baoneng Group explained that Baoneng Group had long been in arrears with the salaries of several employees, which led to the containment of the Yao Zhenhua incident.

One of the key areas of employee salaries owed by Baoneng Group is Baoneng Automobile. The departing executive of Baoneng Group recently stated that compared to previous rumors, Baoneng Automobile has owed employees hundreds of millions of yuan in salary, and now the amount owed will only be more.

Faced with the start of recruitment by Baoneng Automobile, some Baoneng Automobile employees who have resigned appear quite indignant, and have not yet received the delayed salary.

Baoneng Automobile's employees are also not feeling well. According to insiders of Baoneng Automobile, during the peak period at the end of December 2020, Baoneng Automobile had around 20000 employees. Currently, there are more than 1000 employees and blue collar workers, most of whom have not received full compensation.

"Some people stay without a good place to go, and sometimes they pay a few thousand yuan," said an insider from Baoneng Automobile. The Shenzhen factory of Baoneng Automobile is still operating, and the wages owed by blue collar workers in the factory are slightly lower.

Delaying the recovery of the Xi'an factory?

"Yao Zhenhua applied for an extension to reclaim the land use rights of Baoneng Automobile's Xi'an base in order to negotiate with the local government." An insider from Baoneng Automobile stated that the premise is that Baoneng Automobile will produce 20000 small cars by the end of 2023, which is an important goal of Baoneng Automobile's recruitment.

The reporter found through investigation that the land use rights of Baoneng Automobile's Xi'an base have been deregistered and listed for sale by local government departments.

On August 10, 2023, the Xi'an Xixian New Area Public Resource Trading Center announced that the land use rights of Baoneng Automobile Xi'an Base will be listed for sale from August 10, 2023 to September 8, 2023.

Yao Zhenhua went to Xi'an to negotiate with the local government before July 31, 2023. A staff member from Baoneng Automobile's Xi'an factory said, "It was two days before Yao Zhenhua was surrounded."

Baoneng Automobile Xi'an Base, located near Xi'an Xianyang International Airport, is Baoneng Automobile's first self built and put into operation vehicle manufacturing base.

The reporter recently entered the Baoneng Automobile Xi'an base and saw that it was very quiet inside during working hours, with only one security personnel riding an electric bike past.

Entering the final assembly workshop, the front axle assembly line stretches for hundreds of meters. A whole row of production lines are fully assembled but have not started, and the equipment is covered in dust.

The picture is: Qiu Dekun, a reporter from Shanghai Certification Daily, in the final assembly workshop of Baoneng Automobile's Xi'an base. Photo:

At the same time, Baoneng Automobile's delayed payment to suppliers has led to multiple lawsuits. Among them, Guangzhou Ruibei, a subsidiary of Ruisong Technology Holdings, sued Guanzhi Xi'an and Guanzhi Automobile under Baoneng Automobile.

In July 2023, the court ruled in the second instance that Baoneng Group and Yao Zhenhua jointly paid 29.84 million yuan to Guangzhou Ruibei and paid the overdue payment loss, but Ruisong Technology did not receive the payment as of September 6, 2023.

Bankruptcy of its battery company

Compared to Baoneng Automobile's recruitment, its battery company has been transferred to bankruptcy.

On September 13, 2023, according to information disclosed on the Judgment Document Network, the People's Court of Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, decided on September 8, 2023 to transfer Kunshan Juchuang's execution case as the debtor to bankruptcy.

The reason is that the applicant for enforcement applied to the People's Court of Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, for bankruptcy review on the grounds that Kunshan Juchuang was unable to repay its due debts and its assets were insufficient to repay all debts, indicating a clear lack of solvency.

The court notice shows that the applicants for enforcement are Kunshan Yisi Advertising Media Co., Ltd., Kunshan Lotte Catering Management Co., Ltd., Han's Laser Technology Industry Group Co., Ltd., and Zhejiang Hanxin Technology Co., Ltd.

On August 29th, Kunshan Juchuang's three plots of land, unlicensed buildings, and machinery were auctioned for 610 million yuan, with Kunshan Industrial Development Investment Co., Ltd. as the bidder.

According to the insiders of Baoneng Automobile mentioned above, Kunshan Juchuang has long been unable to pay salaries and all R&D personnel have left.

Kunshan Juchuang was established on January 7, 2019, with a registered capital of 750 million yuan. It is a battery project established by Baoneng Automobile to meet supporting needs, but the progress of product sales plans is slow.

According to a senior executive who resigned from Baoneng Group, Baoneng has a great appetite for making cars, and they want to earn any money and do anything.

According to the official website of Baoneng Group, Baoneng Automobile is positioned as a comprehensive automotive industry group, which previously claimed to have initially formed a full industry chain layout of "research and development - parts - vehicle manufacturing - transportation - aftermarket".

The reporter noticed that in addition to Baoneng Automobile's layout in the battery field, many car companies have also extended their industrial chain to the battery end in recent years, but the progress has been unsatisfactory.

At present, some car companies have launched battery products, but without economies of scale, they cannot reduce costs, and more car companies have not yet produced mass-produced products.

Industry insiders believe that the division of labor between car companies and battery companies is different, coupled with the fact that battery research and development requires a huge investment and a long return period. At present, most car companies adopt a two legged approach of "outsourcing+joint venture factory construction" to maintain supply chain stability.