At a public square in Shenyang earlier this week, high and mighty hot pot restaurant managers made their employees fall to the ground on their knees and kowtow while shouting “Thank you boss for giving me a job!” While obviously great for one’s self-esteem, turns out this tactic might not be so good for one’s business.
Hot pot higher-ups, possibly inspired by events in Beijing earlier this month, had their workers assemble holding flags and banners in a square formation at a public space. There were even some workers with cameras assigned to record the entire event, so that the thanking ceremony could serve as a model for other branches of the hot pot chain, reports Liaoshen Evening News via NetEase.
Unsurprisingly, pretty much everyone thinks this was a terrible, egomaniacal idea. A psychologist told reporters that this kind of activity could result in feelings of shame, fear and anxiety for workers. A lawyer said that he even suspects this could be a form of illegal labor rights abuse.
Enraged netizens swore off ever patronizing this exploitative hot pot chain.
“Who would want to go this kind of bullshit hot pot restaurant?” wondered one netizen.
Others joked that the bosses hadn’t gone far enough in exploiting their total control over their employees. “They should have shouted: ‘The bosses are our saviors!'” one netizen commented.
Of course, this isn’t the first example of managers becoming drunk on their own power. Earlier this year a Xiamen boss had his employees kneel on the ground of an overpass for 60 minutes as punishment for not finishing their work in a timely manner.
Also this year, a truly evil Zhejiang boss forced his employees to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral.
[Images via NetEase]
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