After immigration, white-collar workers turned into blue-collar workers.
Canada, Winnipeg. Putting on gray work clothes, pushing a trolley, carrying a pressure gun and a spiral hook, 34-year-old Du Xiwen started his day's work. His job that day was to clean a clogged washbasin in a hotel room.
This job is known locally as Building Operator (Building Maintenance).
To put it simply, you only need to inflate the pressure gun with both hands like a balloon, point the nozzle at the sewer, pull the trigger, and the debris in the sewer will be taken away under the impact of pressure. But sometimes when you encounter a stubborn and disobedient blockage, you can only take out the hook, reach down from the pool, and try your best to pick out the blocked dirt with the hook.
Looking at the large mass of hair that was taken out and smelling the pungent smell, Du Xiwen, who was doing this job for the first time, was still a little at a loss, feeling uncomfortable and nauseated. But seeing his 68-year-old "teacher" quickly complete the cleaning with professional methods, he restrained his disgust, put on blue protective gloves, and started to learn in style.
Du Xiwen’s studio, photo provided by the interviewee
Du Xiwen is a Canadian Level 4 Power Engineering qualification certificate holder. At the end of 2020, their family of three came to Canada from Beijing. Du Xiwen's wife applied for a Canadian school and got a study permit. According to the policy, he, as the other half, can get a work visa of the same length.
Power Engineer, translated as power engineer , "In fact, it is a technician, but people in our industry gave this name to beautify themselves." Du Xiwen said.
Just like domestic junior, intermediate, senior engineers, Canadian Power Engineers are also divided into levels. Levels 5 and 4 are similar to entry-level positions, but the salary of level 4 is higher than that of level 5, and level 1 means The highest level.
If you want to "upgrade", in addition to passing the exam, you also need to accumulate certain work experience. For example, when a technician works in a position for more than 2,000 hours, he can get the next level after getting a signature from his immediate boss. Certificate. Getting started with is easy, but it is not easy to become a level 1 or level 2 engineer. According to Du Xiwen’s calculation, it will take a 20-year-old young man entering the industry about 20 years to reach level 1. The “industry exam has just begun” It’s very simple, but there are many subjects in the later examinations. For example, there are 8 subjects in the level 1 examination, plus the restriction of work experience. "
The higher the level, the more professional the work needs to be done - in addition to the equipment getting bigger and bigger, the system also needs to be done. It is getting more and more complicated, and they only need to "sit in the monitoring room and monitor the operation of the boiler." As a Level 4 Power Engineer, Du Xiwen has to do "everything", such as installing suspended ceilings, scraping putty, repairing boilers, installing air conditioners, painting stools, checking free chlorine ions and combined chloride ions in the swimming pool water, and PH value . work is as trivial as a domestic intern.
Speaking of which, 34-year-old Du Xiwen never thought that he would become a blue-collar technical worker.
Two years ago, he was an assistant researcher at a central enterprise. Sitting in the office every day, I don't need to be exposed to the sun. I only need to be responsible for writing reports and making development plans for the company. He originally thought that he would stay in this position forever, holding an iron rice bowl, working on the line at two o'clock every day, feeling the congestion and congestion of Beijing's traffic.
For a while, my wife always suggested to Du Xiwen that we should immigrate. “I have been talking about it for two years, but I didn’t take it to heart at first.” Du Xiwen was unfamiliar with the word “immigration.” “I have no idea, I don’t know the immigration policy, let alone what this country is like. "
It was only after he had a child that Du Xiwen began to pay attention to this matter. "I personally have suffered a lot from the examination-oriented education system. It is no exaggeration to say that I almost died in high school in that shabby school, so I don't want my children to go through the domestic education system. It has benefits, but I personally can't stand it. This thing."
Du Xiwen and his daughter, photo provided by the interviewee
From an assistant researcher at a central enterprise to a level 4 blue-collar worker in Canada, Du Xiwen had a little struggle, "With no work experience like me and a junior certificate, you Only entry-level positions are available. " Of course, the money given was entry-level - Du Xiwen's hourly salary was initially 22.7 Canadian dollars. Two days after joining the job, the hotel gave him a 4% salary increase to 24 Canadian dollars per hour, which translates to 15,000 yuan per month after tax. .
Du Xiwen feels that his salary is not high. His ideal hourly salary is 40 Canadian dollars. “(The salary) is almost doubled, and then I will be quite comfortable. "But he also knows that he can't be a fat man in one sitting. A blue-collar profession relies on experience. "There's nothing you can do about it in a hurry. It requires work experience, so keep a calm mind and take your time. "
The predictable high salary and the presence of tools have allowed this overseas blue-collar worker to quickly adjust to the psychological gap.
Most people aged 3 or 40 decide to immigrate, mostly for Children, “I hope that through my own efforts, after obtaining the green card, my children will have the opportunity to receive Western education overseas, or have the opportunity to return to China to become overseas Chinese. " Tianjin, who is engaged in the overseas labor service industry, observed.
Tianjin entered the industry in 2013, when the concept of "One Belt, One Road" was proposed. He was responsible for recruiting construction workers to Angola and Algeria . Most of the applicants were Regarding the migrant workers group, “You might make a phone call, and then he and his friends will sign up together with seven or eight people. It’s very popular. "
In the past two years, as the age of domestic migrant workers has become older and older, the number has become smaller and smaller. Tianjin's customers have begun to shift to younger groups, and most of them want to go to developed countries.
2014, 1993 Huang Jinze decided to stay in Canada.
In his senior year, he studied at a university in Shanghai, majoring in Sino-Canadian cooperation in marketing (that is, he could choose to participate in teaching at a Canadian university during his senior year). After two years of study, he obtained a double major in marketing and accounting.
During this graduation season, he faced two choices like most international students: one was to return to China directly, or the other was to stay in Canada and obtain a two- to three-year degree. Work visa, then find a job and apply for immigration.
After some consideration, Huang Jinze decided to get a green card. His first job was as a customer service officer at a transportation company, but the company's qualifications were not enough, and after many setbacks, Huang Jinze came to the end. Worked in sales and warehouse at a furniture store with more than ten years of business experience. The boss's experience in opening a store successfully helped Huang Jinze get a green card.
Huang Jinze is in Vancouver Island, Canada. Photo provided by the interviewee.
The only thing that makes him unhappy is that this. The salary of this job was not high. At that time, Huang Jinze’s monthly salary was only 2,700 Canadian dollars. “I also did some other part-time jobs in between, such as delivering food, helping others move, and washing dishes in restaurants. As long as I can make money, I will basically do it.” Give it a try. "
Until 2018, Huang Jinze accidentally saw a job posting for a Canadian soft furnishing carpentry apprentice helper on the Internet, priced at $20 an hour.
Huang Jinze has always been interested in tools and carpentry. The first time he dealt with wood was when he started a moving house A friend from the company invited him to modify the RV into the . It was actually a matter of removing the back seat of a large van, using an electric drill to piece together the wooden boards, and then installing them into a bed, stove and cabinet. Solar cells and insulation are essential items for an RV.
Huang Jinze’s friend has a dream to travel around Canada with his dog in an RV. He is looking forward to the day when his dream becomes a reality - before the modification is completed, one morning. , he sent a message to Huang Jinze: "Chen, I can't wait, I'm leaving." In this way, he traveled a full circle of Canada in 3 months.
Huang Jinze renovated an RV with his friends, photo provided by the interviewee
This incident planted a seed in Huang Jinze’s heart, and he felt that he might be more suitable for hands-on work. "The (major) I originally studied was not what I liked. I feel that I can't be happy in my life. I can do what I like, or find something I am good at, at least I can find a sense of self-identity. " When I saw the job notice At that moment, with the blessing of hobbies and salary, he decided to give it a try.
The person recruiting carpentry apprentices is also a Chinese. He is 32 years old this year. It is not interesting to be alone, so he just wants to recruit an apprentice to chat while working. Huang Jinze was similar to him in age, and the relationship between the two gradually developed from master-disciple to friend.
During that time, Huang Jinze was doing a leisurely sales job in a furniture store while learning interior decoration from his master for two months. From how to check the drawing site, measure the scale, check the mistakes and errors in the early decoration, to how to cut the materials, install, put on the wall, and finish...
Unlike electricians, plumbers, and carpenters who specialize in house frames, soft decoration carpenters do not need Research, "Developers here are more inclined to think how long you have been doing it, what kind of projects you have done, and if you have relevant experience, they will recognize you more."
In 2020, the sudden epidemic and the boom in overseas labor services Recruiting has taken a turn. Everyone has begun to worry about the epidemic situation abroad, and expectations of working abroad have gradually cooled down. At that time, Tian Jin thought about giving up this industry more than once, but those fans who had accumulated during the live broadcast of job recruitment would always find him, "Don't change careers. After changing careers, no one will help me think about going abroad."
out of With a responsible attitude, he felt that he "should serve them" and chose to persevere.
With the relaxation of overseas prevention and control policies, some people’s enthusiasm for working abroad has begun to increase. "There are obviously more people who want to go out now, especially this year."
To put it bluntly, you still don't want to go out, you know?
Tianjin remembers that the first time he conducted live recruitment on an overseas labor platform, the scene was extremely heated.
It was 2019. The maximum number of viewers in the live broadcast room was as high as 5,000. They asked him, "Can I go out at my age?" "I want to go to Australia. How do you think I can go? Can you give me a brief plan?" "I am a driver. Which country is better to go to?"
was overwhelmed with questions and often missed many questions. This also caused dissatisfaction among some fans, "Why does the teacher always not answer my questions?" Question? "The live broadcast originally planned for 2 hours that day was eventually extended to 3 hours.
In Tianjin's opinion, most of the fans who find him are "a group of people who are confused or have certain ideas, but are not sure how to act" . He always wants to break the casserole to determine the true intentions of these people, " What are you going out for? To make money? Or for career development?"
Their reasons are varied, and some are very interesting. Some young people came up and said to Tian Jin, "The world is so big, I want to see it." Some people also said frankly that they wanted to find a wife, which made Tian Jin dumbfounded.
The undeniable fact is that most young people are still interested in high salaries. "Although domestic income has increased, consumption has also increased, so many young people in China cannot save money. If you go abroad to take care of food and weather droughts and floods for a year to ensure income, you can earn more than 100,000 yuan, which is quite impressive," Tianjin said. The reason behind
is also conceivable. There is a shortage of blue-collar jobs in developed countries, but the dirty work always needs someone to do it. To attract the labor force, the only way to attract the labor force is to improve the salary."To be honest, if your salary is not high, who wants to do this? Everyone wants to sit in an office, blow the air conditioner, drink coffee and paddle, right?"
Huang Jinze in work clothes, photo provided by the interviewee
In Canada, if you want to experience the high wages of blue-collar workers, the threshold is not high, and even the entry standards for some blue-collar positions seem a bit "watery".
After deciding to become a Power Engineer, Du Xiwen contacted the local fire department. "They said that as long as your undergraduate degree is certified, you can take the exam, and you can get the certificate directly after the exam without accumulating experience."
He bought a second-hand textbook and got the certificate in 3 months. "Once you have the certificate, you have one foot in the industry."
Du Xiwen interviewed for 4 positions, including repairing refrigeration equipment at an ice factory and going to an elementary school. Burn boilers, go to pharmaceutical factories and hotels to repair equipment.
finally chose to stay in the hotel just because "this company is very authentic." There are three rounds of interviews in total, including HR interview, department leader interview and hotel GM (General Manager) interview. The interview process was extremely easy. Most of them were fixed templates on YouTube. "What was the most stressful situation you encountered in your past work?" "Who is the colleague you respect most? Why do you respect him?" Du Xiwen was not very prepared for some questions. Full, the answer was intermittent, and HR said directly: "I don't like this question very much, let's go to the next one."
The hotel's interview feedback efficiency also made Du Xiwen very satisfied. After the three interviews, Du Xiwen was admitted as soon as he returned home.
signed the labor contract and the anti-discrimination agreement - that is, no gender discrimination, racial discrimination, or verbal insults due to high or low positions are allowed. Du Xiwen became a Building Operator.
Du Xiwen and colleagues, photo provided by the interviewee
The Building Operator's work is run according to the shift system and is divided into three working time periods, the morning shift is 7:00-15:30, and the afternoon shift is 9:30-17 :30, evening shift is 14:30-23:00. And you must go to work on time according to the time. Any earlier is a violation of the rules.
During a night shift, Du Xiwen arrived at his job at 14:00. It happened that there was an equipment problem in the hotel that needed to be repaired. "I said I would work for a while, but the colleagues around me stopped me and said that I haven't arrived until 14:30, so you can sit down." Then rest."
As for emergencies that have to be dealt with urgently, such as when the boiler is debugged at 23:20, the leader will mark him with half an hour Overtime, and he can get 2.5 times the salary. "To put it bluntly, it's better not to roll, you know?"
After setting up his own business, Huang Jinze experienced the process from rolling to not rolling in Canada.
With the completion of the project, Huang Jinze’s two-month carpentry learning journey came to an end. He started working together with his master, making export cabinets for a supplier boss, and his monthly salary could reach 3-4K Canadian dollars (equivalent to RMB 15,000-20,000). This is a good treatment for Huang Jinze, but the price of the high salary is that the boss "will ask you to work overtime constantly, and then scold you for no reason."
Once, due to customs transshipment, the processed materials arrived two months later than expected. So the boss asked Huang Jinze and the master to complete the project that should have taken three months to complete within one month. During that time, the boss kept calling Huang Jinze, "Telling us that our work was too slow, putting pressure on us and asking us to work overtime to do this." Huang Jinze just thought how could it be possible? I am not a superman.
That month was the darkest moment for carpenter Huang Jinze. After the project, he never worked for the boss again. Instead, he and his master were "self-employed". Together, they formed a carpentry group to make commercial housing software for local developers. Pack.
Most local developers will not limit the working time and progress of workers, they only need to complete the work within the construction period. So Huang Jinze lived a life of 9 to 5, “You must eat on time, and then you must go to bed before 11 o’clock. It is impossible to work overtime.”
This year, a local middle-aged developer was recruiting workers online and worked at the seaside. In order to work and vacation at the same time, Huang Jinze and his master went to him to discuss cooperation. The developer transitioned from carpentry, and he was experienced at first He didn’t believe Huang Jinze and the others, “He wondered if we were doing a good job. He thought we were too young and thought we were bragging when we said we had done so many projects. "
After negotiating the price and construction period, the developer still chose to give them a chance. In order to facilitate their accommodation, they rented a large house with a rent of 2,000 Canadian dollars, an independent kitchen, an independent bathroom, an independent laundry room, and a huge backyard. It looks like a forest.
After Huang Jinze and his master worked together for a week, the developer invited them to drink and recognized that their "quality and efficiency shocked me." Photo provided by the visitor
In the past two years, the reasons why young people go abroad to work have also changed. Many people born in the 1990s and even after the 2000s came to Tianjin and said that they "just don't like the environment here and want to go out and feel comfortable for two years." .
Tian Jin has also lived in Australia. He feels that working here will not be tiring. “It is just a matter of the environment. There is no intrigue abroad because everyone is disdainful, so there is no competition. "Their working logic is, "You pay me a salary, and I will do my thing. After I finish my thing, everyone will perform their duties. What I do with the rest has nothing to do with you. "
After work, everyone will be very happy when they get together, and they will not discuss work matters, Tianjin said.
Plunge in head first,
You must be prepared not to look back
CIIC Consulting recently released 2022 A survey on front-line blue-collar employment and salary management shows that the annual salary of ordinary blue-collar workers (general workers) in 2022 will be around 80,000, and the market high level is between 90,000 and 110,000; the annual salary of skilled blue-collar workers (technicians) will be more than 100,000, the market high level. Between 120,000 and 150,000. The annual salary of high-skilled blue-collar workers in high-tech manufacturing (integrated circuits, electronic manufacturing, new materials) or highly automated companies (automotive parts) is even as high as 150,000-200,000.
But even so, companies still face the problem of "difficulty recruiting" blue-collar workers. The "Manufacturing Talent Development Planning Guide" jointly issued by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that by 2025, China's manufacturing industry will have talent needs in ten key areas. The gap will reach nearly 30 million people, and the gap rate is as high as 48%.
The reason is still people's "subtle" attitude towards blue collar workers. When people talk about "blue collar workers", what are they talking about: low salary, low education, and dirty things? Poor working environment...
"It's still a matter of traditional concepts. "Tian Jin said that if you find that your classmate is working on a construction site, you will feel that he is in a worse situation. "But the reality is very likely that you have a monthly salary of 4,000 to sympathize with the construction site workers who earn 10,000 a month. . "
A few days ago, a department colleague resigned. With the recommendation of his leader, Du Xiwen passed the hotel GM assessment interview and was successfully promoted to the assistant of the department leader. The hourly salary also rose to 30 Canadian dollars, far away from his "40 Canadian dollars dream" "It's a big step closer.
But the chain of contempt will always exist. Du Xiwen's former colleagues all know his current job, "There will definitely be some who think I am mentally ill, but they can't tell me directly, and To put it bluntly, I don’t care if they are so far away from me. "In foreign countries, no one will laugh at you because of your profession, and no one will stay away from you or despise you just because you are a construction worker or a little dirty," Tian Jin said.
Huang Jinze feels that if he is in China Wear work clothes and go to Starbucks to drink coffee, "They will look at me in a different way."In Canada, after get off work, he can wear work clothes and go to restaurants to eat as he likes. "The waitresses there are very happy because blue-collar workers generally give more tips. "
It is an open secret that entry-level blue-collar workers are paid more than entry-level white-collar workers.
In Canada, the starting salary of white-collar workers is about 2,000 Canadian dollars, such as bank tellers or office clerks. Their salary will not exceed 3,000, even if it is A bank manager can only earn about 4,000 at most.
And Huang Jinze "With this money, you can drive your own dream car, have time to go to the gym, travel regularly every year, have your own hobbies, and buy a house at any time, it's okay. other pressures. "When returned to China, he saw that his classmates who were working in China were "fat, had hair loss, had hair loss, and they were getting older." He felt that his life was more comfortable than them. "Others would never imagine it when they look at my circle of friends (I Yes) blue collar. "
Huang Jinze is in Vancouver Island, Canada. Photo provided by the interviewee
Some time ago, Huang Jinze began to share his carpentry life on his Douyin account. Although the number of views was not high, seven or eight big brothers and sisters sent him messages. Send a private message to ask about the work situation in Canada.
Most of the time, Huang Jinze is not a sharer, but a listener to these big brothers and sisters. “When they chat with me, I feel that they don’t want me to tell them any information. , whether they can come to Canada, because the reality is always complicated, there may be families, there may be financial difficulties. "
If you want to become an overseas blue-collar worker, you need to pay a considerable fee. The intermediary fees and application fees in developed countries are often very high. Tianjin gave an example, "For example, it is a deboning worker in an Australian meat factory, Australia The local intermediary will charge 30,000 to 50,000 Australian dollars, and our intermediary has to smooth it for him normally. Basically, the fee will be more than 200,000 yuan. "
In addition, you also need to pass a language test. This means that even if you have rich carpentry or deboning experience in China, you can never pass the English test, and the idea of working abroad can only be abandoned.
It cannot be avoided. Some "age crises." Different countries have different age limits for overseas workers. "For example, in Japan, they basically don't want workers over 35 years old. Singapore will be higher. In the next two years, I will be 50 years old, but I can only do low-level jobs like cleaning at 50 years old. Employers in other developed countries control the age requirements of workers within 40-45 years old. "Tian Jin said.
But some older workers don't understand this. They only see the high wages abroad, and they start looking for agencies, saying, "I can go and do it for you."
The consequence of being blind is to be hacked The agency deceived him. In 2017, Tianjin met a 38-year-old brother. Under the lobbying of the agency that he could earn 30,000 yuan a month, he borrowed 130,000 yuan as an agency fee and came to Australia alone. Discovering that this was not the case at all, he asked the agent to refund the money, but to no avail.
The elder brother cried while chatting, and Wadajin said: "I can't go back. I borrowed all the 130,000 yuan, and I had nothing when I returned home. My wife and children still expected me to make money and then send money home. Tian Jin only felt sad, "The feeling is really indescribable, I can't describe it in words." "
In comparison, domestic blue-collar job seekers can go through formal recruitment platforms such as boss direct recruitment, 151, or even Kuaishou's "Quick Recruitment" live broadcast. However, overseas blue-collar recruitment lacks an authoritative platform and is basically They all rely on agencies and law firms. Because the procedures are complicated and the application cycle is long, there is often no basis for trust between the client and the employer. One employer once spent 70,000 yuan to apply for a visa for Tianjin’s client, but the client did not. There is no reason to go, and this kind of loss can only be borne by the employer.
This kind of blindness is also reflected in young people.Du Xiwen has received messages from many young people. Just a few years after graduating from college, they "can't stand the current situation in the country. No, I want to leave."
Regarding this, he just wanted to advise everyone not to be impulsive, "Calm down, the time is not yet ripe now. You need to temper yourself in the domestic society and be beaten by society." Du Xiwen feels that these young people are more impetuous. To put it exaggeratedly, becoming a blue-collar worker in means having to make a living with technology for the rest of your life. “If you jump in headfirst, it’s okay to turn back right away. But if you have to work for three to five years before changing careers, your age will not allow it. I will go back to work as a professional.” Programmer is also unrealistic. "
Huang Jinze thinks that there is a high probability that he will not change careers, unless one day the salary of carpentry cannot guarantee his quality of life, or, "I have saved enough money and want to start another small business. Maybe I will quit the woodworking industry. I will come back when I run out of money or if it doesn’t develop well.”
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