This Chinese Startup Is Rewarding Employees With Teslas
The Chinese New Year has just started, and most employees have left the big cities to return home. Around this time, employees are wondering if they are going to get that end of the year bonus or not. For most workers, it’s a pleasant extra, not a windfall. But what if the incentive for this year takes the form of a car—a Tesla?
It may seem like a fantasy, but this is exactly what is happening to the employees of WiFi Master Key (TechNode translation), a startup backed by Chinese game developer and publisher Shanda. The firm is handing out a surprisingly generous year-end bonus this year by rewarding every member of staff with more than four months at the company with a Tesla.
A company representative disclosed that dozens out of the fifty current employees will receive this reward, but declined to name the specific number. It will cost the startup more than RMB30 million (US$4.8 million) in total, at current prices (RMB734,000 for the Model S) in the Chinese market. The first batch of eight employees received the cars last week. The electric car manufacturer also confirmed the news.
Growing out of Shanda’s Innovation Institute, WiFi Key Master is a mobile app that automatically connects your devices to public WiFi networks when in range. The app claimed more than 500 million users as of the end of September last year, and 230 million monthly active users. It claims to have free access to 120 million WiFi hotspots across China.
“Talent is the key determinant for the success of high-tech companies. Through this move, we want to show how much we value and respect our talent”, said Chen Danian, the startup’s founder (and twin brother of Shanda CEO Chen Tianqiao).
In recent years, China’s booming internet companies have given lavish year-end compensation to employees in a bid to keep them motivated, retain their best workers amid tough competition for talent, as well as to display the company’s exuberance.
Source: Technode
