1461 Recruitment for the Factory

Now that the factory was completed, most of the machines had been moved in and the dormitory was also almost ready. They were all set and all that was left was the matter of staff recruitment.

“Didn’t you say that there are many good candidates? Have you interviewed any recently?” Qiao Mei asked.

At the mention of this, Qian’e became worried. The only people she knew were all relatives of the Qian family. None of the Qian family members were decent people, so she did not dare to hire them.

The good thing was that Xia Zhe had put her in touch with many retired soldiers. Those people were all hardworking and capable and not doing so well at home. As they all wanted to give their children a good future, many of them told Xia Zhe that they would come to the capital to work.

If they had gone around looking for so many people on such a large scale earlier, people would surely have their doubts. However, with Chi Ze and Mao Hang already here and being testament to the success of the business, everyone believed in Xia Zhe and felt that they would find success by joining him!

“No, the people who came are all Xia Zhe’s friends. The female workers whom we hired are all their wives. I haven’t publicized this matter yet because I don’t know what kind of arrangements you and Xia Wen have made. It would be bad if I leak anything which I shouldn’t,” Qian’e said cautiously.

“It’s good that you have an awareness of such issues. You’re behaving more and more like a boss!” Qiao Mei praised her.

“I’m just learning from you and simply following whatever you and Auntie do. I’m still a novice and have lots to learn from both of you,” Qian’e said humbly.

“Has Zhao Liu come around recently?” Qiao Mei asked.

“Yes, he has. After I spoke to you the last time, I still see him coming here every day. Sometimes, he would sneak into the area in the middle of the night to wander around. I think he’s not just eyeing Auntie, but also our factory!” Qian’e said resentfully.

“Ask Zhao Fei to go and take a look around the factory tomorrow and take the chance to give him some advice. If his uncle continues to do this, then our cooperation with their village will end here. At most, I’ll just spend more money and grow the seeds in the surrounding cities. I can’t accept my business partner being such a person,” Qiao Mei said with a frown.

Qian’e fully agreed with what Qiao Mei said, but the thing was that even with the people whom Xia Zhe found, they still did not have enough workers. They were particularly short of female workers. Men could do manual labor like stir-frying seeds and moving things. However, it was still better to have women doing the jobs like washing the pig offal, making braised meat and preparing popcorn. This was because women tended to be more meticulous.

They would have to depend on Zhou Shuang and Sun Juan to help find more workers. The two women had been living in this alley for so many years and must know many other women who lived in the area.

“What about the salary and benefits for our workers? We still lack delivery vehicles. Also, how do we intend to sell our goods?” Qian’e asked.

“Benefits… I really haven’t thought about this yet. How about this, you and my Mom can come up with some sample packs and go to the shops in various places to see if anyone wants to buy from us. Don’t go to any of the state-run stores as they already have relationships with other sellers. We can’t go around snatching other people’s business,” Qiao Mei reminded her.

“Yes, I understand. I’m good at such things!” Qian’e said with a smile.

Back when she was a piano tutor, she had become acquainted with many well-off families. During this era, people who could afford a piano tutor tended to be quite well-to-do. Qian’e decided to ask these people for help and see if there were any families in business who were willing to work with them.

They were only looking for collaborative relationships and not investors. Qiao Mei did not lack money at all and she was fully capable of funding the business on her own.

After discussing the important matters, Qiao Mei sat at her desk and thought hard about what kind of salary and benefits she should give her staff. The salary definitely could not be as high as before. At this point, there were a lot of expenses. If each of her staff could earn more than 100 dollars a month, then the employees of the other established factories would resign and come to work for her.

The salary for new staff should be at the same level as the other ordinary factories, but the salary of the existing staff would remain the same or could even be adjusted higher.

After that, Chi Ze would be in charge of the factory’s fleet of vehicles, Mao Hang in charge of the cleaning of the pig offal and ensuring food safety, Wang Fang in charge of supervising the workers who pluck corn, Zhou Shuang in charge of the production of popcorn, Yang Mei in charge of the production of braised meat, and Sun Juan in charge of ensuring the quality of the fried seeds for sale.

Everyone of them would become a department supervisor and had to start learning how to manage the different issues in the factory. By then, Qian’e and Li Gui could just sit in the office and count money!