Carrying a non-competition agreement, they become invisible people in the big Internet companies.

Jesuli Chen has heard too many lessons from the past. Once, a former colleague, like her, was competing for a job when she jumped ship. She was careful and was finally caught. He received a strange courier, and the mailing address of this courier said his current company, but it was actually a magazine bought anonymously for him by former company HR in JD.COM. At the moment of signing, he was aware of it, but it was too late. The signing record was quickly fed back to the sender through the insider, and he was sued. "How could it be planted on this?" Now the company HR is extremely helpless to ask.

Wen | Zhong Yixuan

Editor | Jinzha

Operation | Ying

First of all, the name.

Jesuli Chen, which has been used for more than 3 years, has disappeared. The time dimension is half a year, and space is every corner of this office building.

instead, it is a new name, which is randomly generated by a web name searcher. Jesuli Chen obviously hasn't fully adapted. On the first day of employment, someone called this new name. She paused for a few seconds, adjusted her expression, and then turned stiffly to promise, trying to look natural.

after leaving the last company, Chen Yu should not have appeared here. Before leaving her job, there were 13 competing companies in the competition agreement she signed, and this Internet giant was one of them. But she did appear again, becoming a kind of existence that was not allowed and could only be transformed.

besides the name, all the connections with the new company are eliminated from the source. On the day of joining the company, Jesuli Chen didn't receive the canvas bag, notebook and pen around the company like other new employees. She can't have any asset collection records in her personal name, and even the computer used for work needs to be applied for by her leader.

a paradoxical feeling appeared: sitting in front of the workstation, facing the computer and tapping the keyboard with both hands, Jesuli Chen clearly felt that he existed, but he searched along the company intranet and typed "Jesuli Chen", but there was no such person.

More than a month ago, the invisible game was doomed to begin at the moment when Jesuli Chen offered to leave his job.

She has worked in the last Internet company for many years, and she is a middle-level leader. For her, it seems that there is no room for competition. At that time, after learning that Jesuli Chen's intention had been decided, the leader told her that she had to sign a non-competition agreement before leaving her job.

"Finally." She had expected it, but with the last glimmer of expectation, she asked the other party to "find out if there is still the possibility of discussion." Soon, she received feedback, "I still have to compete." Jesuli Chen stared at the screen for a while and mechanically typed out a "good" word.

signing this competition agreement means that Jesuli Chen can't work for any company in the competition agreement in the next six months, and accordingly, she will receive 3% of the average salary in the past 12 months as competition compensation.

She has found her next job, and the name of the new company is quietly lying on the competition list. Now, if you want to join a new company, unless "Jesuli Chen" is no longer "Jesuli Chen". In the end, Jesuli Chen chose to be an "invisible man", wrapped in an alias, and wandered around the new factory.

comparison of compensation for breach of competition agreement of some internet companies. Figure/pulse APP

A name in the company intranet has quietly changed. Liu Jinghan knows that another colleague has passed the competition period.

During the two years in this Internet giant, Liu Jinghan has seen too many invisible games. The sign of the end of this game is usually the change of name. "Intranets with English names are generally employees who are carrying non-competition." There is often such a situation: one day, a colleague who is often in contact with him suddenly changed his name and surname. Between smart people, in the face of this subtlety, there is usually a silent tacit understanding.

The turnover of big factories is so frequent that Liu Jinghan even saw that a colleague came back after leaving for a period of time, because he was burdened with the competition agreement of his last company and could only exist under an irrelevant pseudonym. This is another absurd reality: "Everyone knows his real name, but he is still called by a new alias."

Embarrassment also continues on Jesuli Chen. Before she jumped ship, she knew that a former colleague was now working in this new company. In order to avoid complications, she "didn't contact in advance at that time". Until a few days ago, she invited this colleague to a meeting in the discussion area under a pseudonym. As soon as she sat down, her colleague looked up, suddenly widened her eyes and subconsciously raised her right hand to point at her-despite wearing a mask and hat, she was recognized. Jesuli Chen quickly grabbed her hand and said, "Jingye, help keep it a secret." Colleagues said nothing more, and everything went on as if nothing had happened.

But the terrible situation is that sometimes, the protagonist of the invisible game even forgets his identity first. When Jesuli Chen was in contact with the new company, he led the change halfway. One day, the new leader called suddenly, and when he announced his name, a strange name blurted out. Jesuli Chen obviously felt that at that moment, the person on the other end of the phone was silent. She took the phone from her ear, looked at the different names on the caller ID, and immediately understood that she was an invisible man with a non-competition agreement. The new leader reacted quickly, first opening his mouth to break the embarrassment, making her forget everything she had just heard, and told her several times: "Don't inquire about me."

The participants in this invisible game are not only employees, but also companies. Under their protection, competitors can successfully disappear. Before joining the company, a leader of the new company learned that Jesuli Chen was burdened with a non-competition agreement and comforted her: "The company will help you handle this matter, don't worry too much." On the day of entry, there is also a special HR to receive competitive employees. In a big factory, one way to help employees avoid competition agreements is to find an outsourcing company to sign a contract, and the other way is to sign a labor contract temporarily instead of a labor contract. Chen Yu used the second one, "It means that I am a consultant now, and the company will not pay social security for me."

Head companies in many industries have "profound" experience in this respect. After leaving the last educational institution, the lecturer Zhou Susu successfully joined another one. She took the initiative to ask about the non-competition agreement, and the personnel director personally docked with her and told her: "In the future, although you are busy with your own business, you will give it all to me." This kind of commitment made her dispel some doubts.

At that time, Zhou Susu was always lucky about whether the former company would really launch a competition for her, and with the "protection" of the new company, she didn't really take this matter to heart. She even began to adapt to the state of being invisible, and gave herself an alias of overlapping words, which was handy to use. When she had dinner with a friend and swiped her card to receive the signature of the bill, she even subconsciously wrote this pseudonym.

But Jesuli Chen, who knows the way of a big factory, is more vigilant than Zhou Susu. She needs more self-protection, such as changing all mobile phone numbers and electronic devices. In large factories, most employees need to download the company's internal test APP. "At this time, the company can get your device ID and user ID." If a device once associated with an employee suddenly appears in the IP address of another company, and this company is on the competition list, then the former company will have sufficient reasons to launch a competition for employees. Therefore, changing the phone and contact information at the same time is the best way to deal with it. "Also, it is best not to connect to the wireless network of the new company for a short time." Jesuli Chen added.

On the first day of Jesuli Chen's employment, she also took the initiative to "teach" her some evasive tricks-it is best to pay more attention to the company's public areas, always wear a hat and mask, and don't use any products with the company Logo. She found that the leader was indeed very careful. Once he was eating in the company cafeteria, Jesuli Chen noticed that the other person was sitting not far away. He took off his mask alone, but his hat was still there. "At that moment, I really knew what he looked like." As soon as the meal was over, he quickly put on the mask again.

photos/TV series Naoki Banzawa 2 stills

For the company, disappearing from the competition list of big manufacturers is not necessarily a good signal. A few years ago, Jesuli Chen jumped ship from a portal website, "then it was called a non-competition agreement", with more than 3 company names on it. Now that I have left my job, this portal website that once stood at the head has long since disappeared from the competition agreement. "If it weren't for Sina's Weibo and Netease's games, they would probably be gone."

if there is a retreat, there must be a replacement. It is often surprising who will replace the old-fashioned manufacturers. "There was a second shot on the list. The most outrageous thing was Baiguoyuan. I was thinking, isn't it selling fruit?"

a thin piece of paper basically killed all the possibilities in Jesuli Chen. Although over the years, she has witnessed how the company has leapt from a scale less than hundreds of people to today's size, and witnessed the stormy waves that it has set off after riding the tuyere, there is no moment that makes her feel that her work is closely tied to the survival of the company. She knows very well that anyone is just a screw in front of a big factory and can be completely replaced.

Picture/TV series Naoki Banzawa 2 stills

This "one size fits all" approach has almost banned Zhou Susu. As a high school physics teacher with two years' experience, Zhou Susu signed a competition agreement with her former company as early as when she joined the company. She noticed that the entry competition did not name the company, nor did it indicate the position. It was written about the training, Olympic Games training and online related education and training.

soon, the online education came, and the industry began a "war of grabbing people". Last summer, when Zhou Susu proposed to leave, several original categories in the competition agreement suddenly expanded to the whole K12 chain. "It's unscientific to ban all K12 industries just because of that online correlation." If you follow the contract, Zhou Susu will basically be unable to engage in any related work in the education industry in a short time.

A question puzzles Jesuli Chen and Zhou Susu at the same time. Why on earth are they being contested? And why is it being competed to such a harsh degree?

Zhou Susu still can't understand the competitive hunting of lecturers in the education industry. "Online education is a very new industry, especially for us teachers. I don't know what secrets we have in our work."

so is Jesuli Chen. She once participated in the competition of a subordinate employee. "I am a department, a non-core post, and a very ordinary grassroots employee. It didn't take long to join the work." Jesuli Chen noticed that when HR put forward competition, the young people across the street were so nervous that they didn't even know what competition was. They even went to her privately and repeatedly inquired whether competition was equal to unemployment.

HR asked Jesuli Chen whether he should launch a competition for this employee. "I opposed it at that time," but the leader of Jesuli Chen insisted that the other party should be competing. "I can't convince them. I also fought for the time. Can it be reduced to three months and finally started according to six months?" In all this, Chen Yu has no direct decision-making power. "HR will only confirm with me whether this person wants to start the competition, how long the deadline is, and the list of competing companies." Under normal circumstances, competition is launched for employees with core positions or higher ranks. However, in Jesuli Chen's experience, the subjective decision-making of superior leaders will take up a large part.

Although Jesuli Chen thought that this subordinate had no need to compete at all, when the agreement reached her, it was already printed and only needed to be signed by her. Halfway through, HR suddenly asked, is it necessary to add another competing company? She glanced at the list. "There can't be any more."

The young man who was competing quietly told Jesuli Chen that he was going to work in the next company soon. She comforted him, but there was nothing she could do but tell him, "Don't tell others too much about where you are going." Now, the experience of subordinates has been magically transferred to Jesuli Chen, and even all emotions, such as unwillingness, doubt and fear, are consistent.

Like a time bomb, Jesuli Chen was tortured by his non-competition agreement before leaving his post. At first, I was insomnia, lying in bed, "with my eyes open until three or four o'clock". As soon as I closed my eyes, I couldn't help but imagine myself fighting with my former company and even "going to court". In order not to think too much, she got up and turned on the light quickly, telling herself repeatedly, "It is unlikely to get there."

She knows very well that she can't do anything if she wants to leave, except for a weak temptation-she can't even talk about "opposition" at all. "It's impossible to stand up and fight against anything or kill this system." Qiu Yucong understands Jesuli Chen's idea. He is a lawyer of Zhejiang Bofang Law Firm and is good at handling labor disputes. Although Jesuli Chen can seek labor arbitration, "arbitration is a time-consuming and laborious process, and it is common to spend several months, and this has not counted the subsequent implementation links. If it is a non-final ruling, it will take several years for a case to produce results." Qiu Yucong said.

Just a resignation certificate has caught Jesuli Chen by the throat-the former company will not provide the resignation certificate without signing the non-competition agreement, and this certificate will directly determine Jesuli Chen's status in the next company. "(Can) prove that you have a clear delivery with your former employer" does not mean that you have a problem with your work ability, or that you have made a mistake, been fired or dismissed.

for her, there is no choice but to accept the competition and become invisible to the big factory.

Previously, a Tencent programmer was awarded 971, yuan in compensation for violating the non-competition agreement, which triggered a hot discussion on the Internet. Figure/Weibo screenshot

Being in this invisible game, if you are not careful, you will be mercilessly hunted.

The hunters in the light are naturally former companies. During the non-competition period, the former company will request Jesuli Chen to declare his current work status by email every other month and submit relevant social security records. Jesuli Chen was told by the new company not to reply to emails.

there are other means. Jesuli Chen has heard too many lessons from the past. Once, a former colleague, like her, was competing for a job when she jumped ship. She was careful and was finally caught. He received a strange courier, and the mailing address of this courier said his current company, but it was actually a magazine bought anonymously for him by former company HR in JD.COM. At the moment of signing, he was aware of it, but it was too late. The signing record was quickly fed back to the sender through the insider, and he was sued. "How could it be planted on this?" Now the company HR is extremely helpless to ask.

in the face of huge benefits, prey sometimes actively tests the bottom line. As a lecturer, Zhou Susu sells classes as an important source of her income. During the competition, the new company made Zhou Susu's information into publicity materials for marketing and put it on the public website. after