With investments exceeding RMB 100 billion and a company strategy of "people first, then business," JD.com has established itself as a model company for achieving common prosperity with its employees.

JD.com Raises Salaries Again! Instantly, the topic of "JD.com's 20 salaries" ignited discussions in the internet and professional circles, making JD.com employees the envy of many workers.

On September 13, JD.com Group announced another salary increase. Starting from October 1, 2024, JD.com Retail Group and functional departments will achieve 20 salaries within two years, and other departments will also successively initiate salary increase plans.

What's even more enviable for workers is that this salary increase marks the sixth time in three years that JD.com has increased salaries.

From July 1, 2021, to July 1, 2023, JD.com gradually increased the average annual salary of its employees from 14 salaries to 16 salaries over two years; starting from January 1, 2024, the annual fixed salaries of JD.com's frontline business personnel, such as procurement and sales, increased significantly by nearly 100%, and the average salary increase for all JD.com Retail employees was not less than 20% at the beginning of 2024; starting from February 1, 2024, more than 20,000 JD.com frontline customer service employees experienced an average annual salary increase of over 30%; starting from July 1, 2024, over a year and a half, JD.com increased the annual fixed salaries of procurement and sales personnel from 16 to 20 salaries, with performance incentives having no upper limit; in August 2024, JD.com launched its global 2025 campus recruitment drive, opening up 18,000 positions while significantly increasing the salaries of new graduates.

When it comes to the pace of salary increases and staff expansion at JD.com, there are probably not many large companies in China or even globally that can match it at present.

In recent years, as the global economic situation has declined, industry competition has intensified, and technological iterations have emerged, even world-class technology and internet companies have been affected to varying degrees, resorting to layoffs and salary cuts to cope with the pressure.

01 In the general environment, big companies are "competing" to cut salaries and lay off employees

Since the beginning of this year, international giants such as IBM, Samsung, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Tesla, and others have announced large-scale layoffs. Among them, Samsung's overseas department will lay off up to 30% of its staff, and IBM China will lay off more than 1,000 people; Tesla announced layoffs of over 14,000 employees, accounting for more than 10% of the company's total workforce; Microsoft laid off 11,900 people in early 2024 and plans to lay off another 10,000 globally; Google laid off 12,000 people this year and publicly announced that layoffs would continue throughout the year; Amazon laid off over 27,000 people at the beginning of the year, affecting almost all departments.

Looking back domestically, as economic uncertainty increases, retail consumption falters, and corporate profits decline, the trend of "cost reduction and efficiency enhancement" among internet giants has become increasingly prevalent: layoffs, salary cuts, business contraction, department closures, and even entire departments being shut down have occurred from time to time.

According to Alibaba's latest financial report, in the first half of 2024, Alibaba reduced its workforce by over 20,000 employees. Along with the layoffs, Alibaba also underwent a job level reform in 2023, reducing job levels by nearly half, which resulted in reduced incomes for many employees, effectively amounting to a disguised salary cut.

In the past year, ByteDance has also been embroiled in a series of layoffs, with gaming, Feishu, and other business departments being hit hard, and in some cases, entire departments have been disbanded. At the end of last year, ByteDance began divesting its gaming business, affecting related game projects and nearly 2,000 gaming team members; earlier this year, Feishu announced a 20% layoff, affecting 1,000 employees.

Pinduoduo, known for its high salaries, typically offers job offers with 15-16 salaries for most positions, consisting of 12 months' salary plus 1-2 months' performance bonus and 2 months' year-end bonus. However, the work schedule is generally 11116 (working from 11 am to 11 pm, 6 days a week), making it a demanding job.

Tencent is also among the companies cutting salaries. According to its financial report, the average monthly salary in 2024 was RMB 85,800, RMB 504 less than last year's RMB 86,300.

Furthermore, according to a former Xiaomi employee, the company promised 14 salaries upon hiring but forcibly included part of the monthly salary in the year-end bonus during implementation, resulting in the employee never receiving the full year-end bonus in their three years of employment.

Industry insiders familiar with the overall market situation revealed that these days, there are not many internet giants that can actually pay out 14 salaries, making JD.com's ability to pay out 20 salaries with no upper limit particularly noteworthy and indicative of its strength and confidence.

02 JD.com Sets a New Standard by Supporting Its 620,000 Employees

Amid a saturated market, sluggish consumption, and fierce competition in the e-commerce environment, JD.com also needs to "reduce costs and increase efficiency." However, JD.com's approach to cost reduction and efficiency enhancement does not involve targeting employees by cutting staff or lowering wages but rather focuses on improving supply chain efficiency. Moreover, JD.com continues to uphold its tradition of "people first, then business," placing greater emphasis on and leveraging the value of its people. By launching large-scale recruitment campaigns against the trend and continuing to increase salaries, JD.com actively conveys its confidence in the industry and positive social energy.

In 2024, there were 11.79 million college graduates in China, making it known as the "hardest job market year." In August of this year, JD.com launched its campus recruitment drive, essentially hiring the equivalent of an entire Pinduoduo workforce in one go. This recruitment drive aimed to hire 18,000 fresh graduates, surpassing Pinduoduo's current total workforce of 17,000 employees. Last September, JD.com also launched its "largest-scale recruitment in the industry," offering 15,000 campus positions. Remarkably, JD.com has sustained this level of "largest-scale recruitment in the industry" for six consecutive years.

While significantly expanding its recruitment of fresh graduates, JD.com has also addressed the welfare and security concerns of its vast delivery personnel.

Unlike other e-commerce companies, JD.com is an internet company that has invested heavily in building its own logistics system, with warehouse and logistics delivery personnel accounting for nearly 80% of its total workforce. Liu Qiangdong once stated that in 2018, JD.com contributed more to its delivery personnel's social insurance and commercial insurance than the combined total of the mainstream private courier companies on the market, with an average contribution per delivery person being 3-6 times that of other private logistics companies.

JD.com's financial report data also confirms the company's emphasis on human capital investment. The first-half 2024 financial results showed that JD.com's revenue reached RMB 551.4 billion, an increase of 3.87% year-on-year. Notably, JD.com's total human resource expenditure reached RMB 109.2 billion.

JD.com's actions demonstrate that during critical times, businesses need to stand with their employees through thick and thin. When employees have competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits, they can devote themselves fully to their work without worries, significantly enhancing the cohesion and creativity of the company. At the same time, it can attract more high-quality core talents to the company, helping it navigate economic cycles.

Through investments exceeding RMB 100 billion and adhering to the principle of "people first, then business," JD.com has established itself as a model company for achieving common prosperity with its employees.

In recent years, most of the people who have benefited from JD.com's significant expansion and welfare support are either college graduates facing employment challenges or delivery workers supporting their families.

In the current job market, any company that can solve employment issues to the greatest extent is also contributing significantly to addressing national livelihood issues.

Currently, JD.com employs a total of 620,000 people, roughly equivalent to the combined total of several other internet companies. JD.com's ability to support its 620,000 employees is the most direct and effective manifestation of corporate responsibility and entrepreneurship in the new era.