Jesuli Chen has learned too many lessons from the past. Once, a former colleague like her, when competing for a job, she jumped ship. She was very careful and was caught in the end. He received a strange courier. The mailing address of this courier said his current company, but in fact it was the magazine that HR, the former company of JD.COM, bought for him anonymously. At the moment of signing, he realized it, but it was too late. The signature record was quickly fed back to the sender through the insider, and he was sued. "How could it be planted on this?" Now the company HR is extremely helpless to ask.

Wenzhong

Edit | Golden Round

Operation |

The first is the name.

Jesuli Chen, two words that have been used for more than 30 years, has disappeared. The time dimension is half a year, and space is every corner of this office building.

Instead, a new name is randomly generated by a network name searcher. Jesuli Chen obviously hasn't fully adapted. On the first day of employment, someone called this new name. She paused for a few seconds, adjusted her expression, and then turned stiffly to promise, trying to look natural.

Chen Yu shouldn't be here after leaving his last company. Before leaving her job, there were 13 competing companies in the competition agreement she signed, and this Internet giant was one of them. But she did appear again, becoming a kind of existence that was not allowed and could only be transformed.

In addition to the name, all contact with the new company is also eliminated from the source. On the day of joining the company, Jesuli Chen didn't receive the canvas bag, notebook and pen in the company like other new employees. She can't have any asset collection records in her personal name, and even the computer used for work needs her leader's application.

A specious feeling appeared: sitting in front of the work station, facing the computer and tapping the keyboard with both hands, Jesuli Chen clearly felt his existence, but he searched along the company intranet and typed "Jesuli Chen", but there was no such person.

More than a month ago, at the moment when Jesuli Chen proposed to leave, this invisible game was doomed to begin.

She has worked in a large Internet company for many years and is a middle-level leader. For her, competition seems to be a matter of no room. At that time, after learning that Jesuli Chen's intention had been decided, the leader told her that she must sign a non-competition agreement before leaving her job.

"Finally." She had expected it, but with the last glimmer of expectation, she asked the other party to "find out if it is possible to discuss it." Soon, she received feedback, "I still want to participate." Jesuli Chen stared at the screen for a while, mechanically typing the word "good".

Signing this non-competition agreement means that Jesuli Chen can't work for any company in the non-competition agreement in the next six months. Accordingly, she will receive 30% of the average salary in the past 12 months as non-competition compensation.

She has found her next job, and the name of the new company lies quietly on the competition list. Now, if you want to join a new company, unless "Jesuli Chen" is no longer "Jesuli Chen". In the end, Jesuli Chen chose to be an "invisible man", wrapped in an alias and wandering around the new factory.

Compensation comparison of some internet companies for violating competition agreements. Figure/pulse APP

A name in the company intranet quietly changed, and Liu knew that another colleague had passed the competition period.

During Liu's two years as an Internet giant, he has watched too many invisible games. The end of this game is usually marked by a change of name. "Intranets with English names are generally employees with non-competition." It is often the case that one day, a colleague who is in frequent contact with him suddenly changed his name and surname. Between smart people, in the face of this subtlety, there is usually a silent tacit understanding.

The turnover of big factories is so frequent that Liu even saw a colleague come back after leaving for a period of time, because he was burdened with the competition agreement of his last family and could only exist under an irrelevant pseudonym. This is another absurd reality: "Everyone knows his real name, but he still uses a new alias."

Jesuli Chen's embarrassment continues. Before she jumped ship, she knew that a former colleague was now working in this new company. In order to avoid complications, she "didn't contact in advance at that time". Until a few days ago, she invited this colleague to a meeting in the discussion area under a pseudonym. As soon as she sat down, her colleague looked up, suddenly opened her eyes wide and subconsciously raised her right hand-despite wearing a mask and hat, she was recognized. Jesuli Chen quickly grabbed her hand and said, "Ye Jing, help me keep a secret." Colleagues didn't say anything, and everything went on as if nothing had happened.

But the terrible situation is that sometimes, the protagonist of the stealth game even forgets his identity first. When Jesuli Chen came into contact with the new company, he led the change in the middle. One day, the new leader suddenly called. When he announced his name, a strange name blurted out. Jesuli Chen clearly felt that at that moment, the person on the other end of the phone was silent. She took the phone away from her ear, looked at the different names on the caller ID, and immediately understood that she was invisible and had a non-competition agreement. The new leader responded quickly, first opening his mouth to break the embarrassment, making her forget everything she had just heard, and telling her several times: "Don't inquire about me."

The participants in this invisible game are not only employees, but also companies. Under their protection, competitors can successfully disappear. Before joining the company, a leader of the new company learned that Jesuli Chen was burdened with a non-competition agreement and comforted her: "The company will help you handle this matter, don't worry too much." On the day of entry, there is also a special HR to receive competitive employees. In large factories, one way to help employees avoid non-competition agreements is to sign contracts with outsourcing companies, and the other way is to sign labor contracts temporarily instead of labor contracts. Chen Yu used the second one. "It means that I am a consultant now and the company will not pay social security for me."

Head companies in many industries have "profound" experience in this respect. After leaving the last educational institution, lecturer Zhou Susu successfully joined another one. She took the initiative to ask about the non-competition agreement, and the personnel director personally docked with her and told her: "Although you are busy with your own business in the future, you will leave it to me." This commitment reassured her of some doubts.

At that time, Zhou Susu was always lucky that the previous company would really compete with her, and with the "protection" of the new company, she didn't really take it to heart. She even began to adapt to the state of invisibility and gave herself an alias of overlapping words, which was handy to use. She even unconsciously wrote this pseudonym when she was eating with friends and collecting bills by credit card.

However, Chen Yu, who knows how to build a big factory, is more vigilant than Zhou Susu. She needs more self-protection, such as changing all her mobile phone numbers and electronic devices. In large factories, most employees need to download the company's internal test APP. "At this time, the company can get your device ID and user ID." If a device once associated with an employee suddenly appears in another company's IP address, and this company is on the competition list, then the former company has good reason to compete for employees. Therefore, changing the phone and contact information at the same time is the best way to deal with it. "Also, it is best not to connect to the wireless network of the new company for a short time." Jesuli Chen added.

On the first day of her employment, Jesuli Chen, who is also a competitive leader, took the initiative to "teach" her some evasive tricks-it is best to pay more attention to the public areas of the company, always wear a hat and mask, and don't use any products with company logo. She found that the leader was really careful. Once, when he was eating in the company cafeteria, Jesuli Chen noticed another person sitting not far away. He took off his mask alone, but his hat was still there. "At that moment, I really knew what he looked like." As soon as the meal was finished, he quickly put on his mask again.

Pictures/TV series Naoki Banzawa 2 stills

For the company, disappearing from the competition list of big manufacturers may not be a good signal. A few years ago, Jesuli Chen jumped ship from a portal website. "At that time, it was called non-competition agreement", with the names of more than 30 companies on it. Now that I have left my job, this portal website that once stood on my head has long since disappeared from the non-competition agreement. "If it weren't for Sina's Weibo and Netease's games, they would probably be gone."

If there is a retreat, there will be a supplement. It is often surprising who will replace the old-fashioned manufacturers. "There is a second shot on the list. The most outrageous thing is Baiguoyuan. I was thinking, isn't it just selling fruit? "

A thin piece of paper basically killed all the possibilities in Jesuli Chen. Although over the years, she witnessed how the company jumped from the scale of less than a few hundred people to today's scale, and witnessed the stormy waves it set off after braving the wind and waves, there was no moment that made her feel that her work was closely related to the company's life and death. She knows very well that anyone is just a screw in front of a big factory and can be completely replaced.

Pictures/TV series Naoki Banzawa 2 stills

This "one size fits all" approach almost blocked Zhou Susu. As a high school physics teacher with two years' working experience, Zhou Susu signed a competition agreement with his former company as early as when he joined the company. She noticed that the entries did not name the company or indicate the position. The content includes training, Olympic training and online related education and training.

Soon, the popularity of online education came, and the industry began to be gradually involved in the "grabbing war." Last summer, Zhou Susu proposed to leave, and the original category in the competition agreement suddenly expanded to the entire K 12 chain. "It is unscientific to block all industries of K 12 just because of that connection on the Internet." According to the contract, Zhou Susu can hardly engage in any related work in the education industry in a short time.

A problem troubled Jesuli Chen and Zhou Susu at the same time. Why on earth are they competing? Why is the competition so fierce?

Zhou Susu can never understand the competition of lecturers in the education industry. "Online education is a very new industry, especially for our teachers. I don't know what secrets we have at work. "

So is Jesuli Chen. She once participated in a competition of subordinate employees. "I am a department, a non-core position, and a very ordinary grassroots employee. It didn't take long to work. " Jesuli Chen noticed that when the HR department put forward competition, the young people across the street were so nervous that they didn't even know what competition was. They even went to see her privately and repeatedly asked if competition was equal to unemployment.

The HR department asked Jesuli Chen if he should launch a competition for this employee. "I was against it," but Jesuli Chen's leaders insisted that the other side should compete. "I can't convince them, I have bought time. Can it be reduced to three months and started in the last six months? " Chen Yu has no direct decision-making power in all these matters. "HR will only confirm with me whether this person wants to start competition, how long the period is, and the list of competing companies." In general, competition is aimed at employees in core positions or higher vocational levels. However, in Jesuli Chen's experience, the subjective decision-making of superior leaders will account for a large part.

Although Jesuli Chen thinks that this subordinate has no need for competition at all, when the agreement reaches her, it has been printed and only needs her signature. Halfway through, HR suddenly asked, is it necessary to add another competitive company? She glanced at the list. "No more."

The young man who was quietly competing told Jesuli Chen that he would go to work in the next company soon. She comforted him, but told him, "Where are you going? Don't tell others too much." Now, the experience of subordinates has been magically transferred to Jesuli Chen, and even all emotions, such as unwillingness, doubt and fear, are consistent.

Like a time bomb, Jesuli Chen was tortured by the non-competition agreement before leaving his post. At first, I was insomnia, lying in bed, "sleeping until three or four o'clock with my eyes open." As soon as I close my eyes, I can't help but imagine myself fighting with my former company and even "going to court". In order not to think too much, she quickly got up and turned on the light, telling herself repeatedly, "It is unlikely to arrive."

She knows very well that she can't do anything except weak temptation-she can't even talk about "opposition". "It is impossible to stand up against anything and kill the system." Qiu understands the idea. Lawyer of Zhejiang Fangbo Law Firm, good at handling labor disputes. Although Jesuli Chen can seek labor arbitration, "arbitration is a time-consuming and laborious process, and it is common to spend several months, and this is not included in the subsequent implementation. If it is a non-final ruling, it will take several years for a case to produce results. " Qiu said to him.

Just a certificate of resignation grabbed Jesuli Chen's throat-the former company would not provide a certificate of resignation without signing a non-competition agreement, and this certificate will directly determine Jesuli Chen's position in the next company. "(can) prove that you have a clear handover with your former employer" does not mean that you have a problem with your work ability, or that you made a mistake and were fired or dismissed.

For her, there is no choice but to accept the competition and become the invisible person of the big factory.

Previously, a Tencent programmer was awarded a compensation of 97. 1 10,000 yuan for violating the non-competition agreement, which triggered a hot discussion on the Internet. Figure/Weibo screenshot

In this invisible game, if you are not careful, you will be mercilessly hunted.

The hunter in the light is naturally the former company. During the non-competition period, the original company will require Jesuli Chen to declare his current work status by email every other month and submit relevant social security records. The new company told Jesuli Chen not to reply to emails.

There are other ways. Jesuli Chen has learned too many lessons from the past. Once, a former colleague like her, when competing for a job, she jumped ship. She was very careful and was caught in the end. He received a strange courier. The mailing address of this courier said his current company, but in fact it was the magazine that HR, the former company of JD.COM, bought for him anonymously. At the moment of signing, he realized it, but it was too late. The signature record was quickly fed back to the sender through the insider, and he was sued. "How could it be planted on this?" Now the company HR is extremely helpless to ask.

In the face of huge benefits, prey sometimes takes the initiative to test the bottom line. As a lecturer, Zhou Susu regards selling classes as an important source of income. During the competition, the new company made Zhou Susu's materials into publicity materials for marketing and put them on public websites. Later, Zhou Susu learned that the teacher qualification certificate number of each lecturer would also be attached to the webpage, and this number is the same as that of Xue Xin. Com, it's one-on-one This figure of 17 is finally shown in the litigation evidence submitted by the former company. In addition, Zhou Susu also participated in the recording of various promotional videos of the new company, and had direct interaction with the company on Weibo, which also became strong evidence for the former company to sue her.

When the new company discussed these things with Zhou Susu, she also had concerns, but not selling classes meant that her income plummeted. "Obviously, the company also wants me to come out quickly to generate income." She thinks that from the perspective of the new company, the benefits of public publicity are definitely greater than the losses of non-competition, regardless of lectures or Weibo interaction. "In addition, they promised to help me deal with the subsequent non-competition issue."

Besides these, she has some luck. When she joined the original company, a founder told her that the competition would not take effect unless there was an accident. "At that time, when you signed the competition, human resources would have something to say, which probably made you feel that the competition was just an industry practice. If you are not a class teacher and have not been maliciously poached by your peers, the competition will be lifted when you leave your job normally. "

Zhou Susu obeyed the public decision, but soon she received a lawyer's letter from her former company. After more than two months' delay, the dispute ended in mediation. Zhou Susu returned the compensation for non-competition to the original company and assumed additional compensation. Now the company has only paid her upfront lawyer's fees. Afterwards, Zhou Susu recalled that the company never seemed to make any commitment to this "protection" in writing.

Competition disputes are just the beginning. The game based on interests is extremely fragile, and the original protector may become a new enemy.

Soon after, due to personal planning reasons, Zhou Susu communicated with the new company about his resignation. After unsuccessful negotiation, the new company sent a notice to Zhou Susu, which mentioned that a competition would be held. "The contest will last for two years and will not accept employment or investment in related companies." Previously, in order to avoid the previous company's non-competition agreement, Zhou Susu existed as an outsourced employee in the new company, and signed a supplementary agreement instead of a labor contract. Later, the lawyer told her that the contract was very unfavorable to her. Because this means that she has two employers, one is the actual employer and the other is the main body of labor, and labor arbitration is likely to reject her case. "You don't know when competition will turn into a knife and cut across your neck." Zhou Susu said.

Photo/TV series "Golden Lawyer" stills

In addition, in the dark, there are many pairs of eyes staring at these invisible people.

A friend of Jesuli Chen's colleague, after leaving the company, immediately went to work for the company. There is only a dozen meters road between the two companies. Without taking any protective measures, friends go to work as usual every day, "there will always be acquaintances coming and going." Now that I think about it, Jesuli Chen is still surprised by each other's "blatant".

But later, this friend who chose "not to be invisible" was finally reported by a caring person. The video completely recorded his whole process from entering the company to sitting at the workstation, which was "impossible to prevent". Jesuli Chen guessed that it was probably taken by a colleague. In addition, the video can be accurately sent to the other party's former company and department HR, "it will cost at least a certain amount."

Liu, who is also in a big factory, concluded that competition exists in two situations. "Either it was reported by the reporter or it was originally the company's close tracking object."

Open, dark, inside and outside, these dangers hang over Jesuli Chen. Before leaving her job, she repeatedly tested the HR of her former company. Will the company also "raid" her by some means? Although the other party told her that it was unlikely, she was always anxious. She is always a little nervous when she goes out. Her fingers turned the ring repeatedly, and her eyes kept scanning any sound source close at hand. The lower the sound, the better. Her voice stopped when the surroundings quieted down.

No one can completely ignore competition, especially after seeing the "deterrent" of competition. At the same time, Liu He mentioned a person who was "hunted down" by a competitor. He was an employee of a big factory and was fired after an argument with the company. Soon after, he chose to jump to an important position in a competitive company. When the former company learned about it, it immediately launched a competition with him, which cost him his new job. "I finally heard that I went to the overseas business department of a company, and the competition for him stopped." Liu said:

Jesuli Chen knows that once she is prosecuted, it will have a great impact on her life. "By that time, I may not be able to do my job well, and my career may not go on." If the worst happens, she will face a long litigation process and undecided results. "I don't know how I will handle these things alone."

She also asked the current company HR, "What will happen if you are sued?" The other party told Jesuli Chen that "there will be a way to deal with it". However, Jesuli Chen never knew what this response was. "Maybe they were evasive in the early stage."

"I don't seem to have done anything wrong, but now I am like an' illegal'." A non-competition agreement has been following her, and some unprotected invisible protection, fear and confusion are coming from all directions, squeezing Jesuli Chen, and this long hiding has just begun.

Photo/TV series "Golden Lawyer" stills

The last moment Jesuli Chen wanted to face was confirmed by Zhou Susu's entanglement with the new company.

This entanglement lasted for half a year and finally ended at the end of August this year. Zhou Susu succeeded in defending rights. She tried to find a new job in the past six months. When another large Internet company offered her an olive branch, she asked an old question: "What if I still have competitors?"

Douban Group's "going to work" is mostly a question about whether job seekers should sign a non-competition agreement. Figure/Douban APP screenshot

The other party gave the current boss a surprisingly similar answer: the company is very experienced, rest assured. However, when she mentioned this matter to her lawyer, the lawyer advised to be conservative. "After all, it is still in the process, and the company's competition is still effective."

She gave up her job. While waiting for the results, online education suffered a devastating blow. Giant institutions such as Learning and Thinking, New Oriental, Who to Learn from, homework help, and Ape Family Education have laid off employees. Zhou Susu kept brushing these messages on his mobile phone, and his heart was full of various emotions, including the pleasure of revenge and the hidden worries. "Although I got the effective legal documents at that time, I was afraid that the company would go bankrupt and liquidate like other educational institutions, and my compensation would be in vain." After all, some former colleagues are still taking arbitration proceedings because of violent layoffs. "Some of them may be in arrears with their wages, and their wages are better than my debts."

The competition also revealed the ups and downs of this head education institution. At the end of last year, it also re-signed the terms of the competition agreement with a group of senior lecturers, "extending the competition time and increasing the duration from 2 years to 3 years." The reason is not sudden. At that time, educational institutions were in full swing, and all major institutions were robbing people. "The company heard the news that another industry giant is coming to dig people."

However, there are still a few non-competition lawsuits that actually go to court. After all, for big factories, non-competition is only a means, not an end. The key to the game lies in checks and balances, regardless of winning or losing.

"Once the competition starts, it will involve the struggle between companies." Liu said that in fact, every company must have some invisible people, and they will only lose each other in the end. The relationship between people is the same. "Today is you, tomorrow is me, and everyone should leave a way out for themselves."

In any case, the survival trajectory of some young people has been changed.

The little boy pushed out by Jesuli Chen didn't dare to take that step in the end. He gave up the job opportunity he got. Jesuli Chen felt very sorry, but his incognito competition was also very difficult, and no one could judge others' choices. Zhou Susu was unemployed at home for half a year, relying on his parents to pay a monthly mortgage of 10 thousand yuan, and found a new job in September. In the days when I was unemployed and waiting for the result of the lawsuit, my family also argued for her many times. "Some people think that I should use the law to protect my rights, while others think that even if I suffered some losses at that time, I should leave my job through consultation, so that I will not lose my competitiveness in the end."

Another problem followed. What does it mean for a young man to lose for half a year because of the competition?

Liu once interviewed a young man who had worked in a big factory in her own business recruitment. She noticed that there was a three-month blank period on her resume. She immediately asked the reason, and the other party hesitated and replied, "I have been resting for several months." It was this blank that made Liu discount his impression, and the interviewer didn't make it to the end.

The pace of big factories is not the fastest, only faster. Once he loses his job and relaxes psychologically for a short time, Jesuli Chen will immediately feel "unable to catch up". Liu recently considered whether to leave his job, but he was also stumped by the competition. "But the truth is, as long as I want to stay in the Internet industry, I can't stop. I will venture to the next big factory."

A high-speed machine will not stop running because it is missing a screw. The huge mechanical friction made Jesuli Chen feel the indifference of the machine. Maybe this fallen screw has its own journey, but it is tightly wrapped in a paper agreement and can't move. "Sometimes the people used here are not used as people. You can be any tool on the assembly line. " Liu said: As for whether the screws will age and rust after the paper agreement floats away, nobody cares.

Jesuli Chen was hired again. When entering and leaving the new company, she took out her badge and didn't wear a lanyard-the lanyard often has a striking company logo. When brushing the brakes, she deliberately put the back of the badge up and covered the front, even though there was no photo, no name and a blank on this side.

Photos/TV series hush stills

(At the request of the interviewee, all the characters involved in the article are pseudonyms. )