"Brother Lei, how's it going? What was the haul today?"
Chen Yang ran over and teased Lei Baoguo. Although he valued Lei Baoguo's skills, they didn't need to go out much these days. He wasn't as high-profile as the celebrities of later generations, who needed bodyguards to clear the way wherever they went.
Moreover, he didn't simply regard Lei Baoguo as a security guard. If he had to describe their relationship, it was somewhere between that of a friend and a subordinate.
"I learned a lot from Sister Erdi. I sold three units myself today."
"But I also noticed that people trust our Meng Hui Radio brand. Even if I hadn't spoken up, they would have bought it."
Lei Baoguo was as honest as ever. He wouldn't brag about other places, but in Qinghe City, the Meng Hui Radio brand had truly made a name for itself.
So far, no one who had bought a radio had experienced a breakdown. This alone was enough to allay many people's concerns about used radios.
What's more, Zhang Weiyang now offered a one-year warranty on every radio sold.
If no parts were replaced, the repair was free. If parts were replaced, only the cost of the parts would be charged.
"It's alright, Brother Lei. If you really want to test your skills, you'll have your chance later."
"Tomorrow we're going to Fei City. I'll let you show what you've got then."
Chen Yang smiled. Lei Baoguo's honest nature didn't need any prodding; he just needed encouragement.
"Erdi, where's Weiyang?"
Chen Yang glanced around the shop and didn't see Zhang Weiyang.
"He's at home. The house is piled high with old radios that he needs to quickly sort and send to the repairmen. They need to be fixed as soon as possible, or we'll run out of stock."
Zhang Weiyang was usually very busy and wasn't at the shop every day.
"Okay, I'll go see him."
Chen Yang thought that he needed to rent a large warehouse quickly. If he couldn't find one, he'd ask Zou Chenguang to allocate some land and build a factory.
For Meng Hui Radio to run smoothly, it would definitely need its own workshops.
Then, they would need to hire professional workers to be responsible for the entire process of recycling, sorting, classifying, repairing, and testing old radios before they were shipped out.
Each region would need at least one factory, otherwise, they couldn't guarantee supply, which would severely limit and hinder the business's development.
This matter also needed to be discussed with Zhang Weiyang to come up with a plan.
Previously, because the business was small and operations were on a smaller scale, Zhang Weiyang could manage by collecting old radios from junk dealers and then having colleagues from the factory repair them at home.
Now, all the used radios collected from the subordinate counties of Qinghe City had to be sent to Qinghe City for repair before being sent back. This workload was not something Zhang Weiyang could handle alone.
If the business was to grow, industrialization was an inevitable trend.
When Chen Yang arrived at Zhang Weiyang's house and saw the pile of old radios, his resolve was even stronger.
He communicated his plan to Zhang Weiyang, and they immediately agreed.
Zhang Weiyang was often out on business and really didn't have time to manage these matters.
"Brother, we can recruit people from the countryside. When it's the slack season in the villages, people earn little from their work points. If we give them two or three jiao a day, many villagers will be willing to help out."
"We can also select some educated and agile young people and have the experienced repairmen from the factory mentor them. They can help with simple tasks like tightening screws and disassembling machines, which will save the electricians time."
Zhang Weiyang's quick understanding was remarkable. Even at this time, he already had the idea of recruiting migrant workers. Su Dan Novel Network.
Hiring migrant workers for factories wasn't a bad thing. In the countryside, people couldn't earn much money.
They might break their backs working under the sun and the soil, and still earn less than half of what they could at a factory working eight hours.
The problem was the vast disparity in resource allocation between urban and rural areas, especially in education and healthcare.
There was no other way. Migrant workers toiled day and night in the city, earning a meager living. They could only save enough for a down payment in the city for the next generation, and both generations would struggle together to pay off a mortgage.
Although by the time Chen Yang was reborn, the country had already begun planning to shift educational and medical resources towards rural areas, this was not something that could be achieved overnight.
The hardship of migrant workers had been a reality for a long time.
"Weiyang, your idea is good. Most people in the city already have jobs and wouldn't look down on a private enterprise like ours."
"Recruiting villagers to work is feasible, but we can't be exploitative capitalists. For those who live far away, we'll build dormitories and provide accommodation."
"We'll provide three meals a day. It doesn't have to be luxurious, but it must be enough for them to work with full stomachs."
"For some young people, we can hire masters to teach them skills. I can pay the skilled repairmen from the factory more. Here, there's no such thing as 'the apprentice starving the master.'"
"For these skilled masters, if they're willing to come to our factory, I can offer them preferential treatment. Double, even triple their current salary, as long as their skills are excellent. I'm not afraid of spending money."
"For the apprentice migrant workers, as long as they are willing to learn, we will let them learn a skill in the factory. Even if they leave the factory later, they will still have a way to make a living."
"Although life is tough for villagers now, one day, they will be able to make a breakthrough through their own efforts. We should help them if we can."
"Moreover, by cultivating more mature and outstanding workers, we will have personnel ready if we decide to transition to manufacturing electrical appliances."
This way, if he later decided to transition the used radio business to manufacturing new electrical appliances, these workers could immediately contribute.
In those days, skilled workers were hard to find; they were all in state-owned factories.
This was not the 1990s, when state-owned factories underwent large-scale reforms or even closures and bankruptcies. At this time, workers in state-owned factories would absolutely not consider working for private enterprises.
For those with excellent skills, Chen Yang was willing to pay more to hire them, but for general technicians or unskilled laborers, he could not afford to poach them at a high cost.
He also had to control production costs. He was here to do business, not charity. Therefore, training workers was a necessity.
These people would learn skills for free at his place. If they were willing to stay and become skilled workers under him after learning, he would naturally provide them with corresponding compensation.
Even if they chose not to stay, having learned a skill, they would have the opportunity to work in other factories, which would at least be better than farming in the countryside.
"Brother, I see the gap between us. You're on a different level."
"I believe that the workers we train ourselves will work hard to give back to the factory. This definitely fosters a sense of belonging."
Zhang Weiyang was quite shocked by Chen Yang's words.
In those days, masters taught apprentices selectively, but Chen Yang was willing to spend a lot of money to hire masters to teach skills to the workers he hired.
Even if his intention was for these people to help his factory after learning the skills, this vision was beyond that of ordinary people.