STAYING in Beijing to earn more money during the recent Chinese New Year holiday is what 20-year-old Zhang Jun had planned, but the outbreak of the novel coronavirus turned his plan upside down.
“I have been an employee of the Windsor KTV at Guomao in the heart of Beijing’s Central Business District since I graduated from a junior college in July 2019. I had thought I could earn some extra money during the Spring Festival golden week, so I gave up spending time with my family this year,” Zhang said. His parents live in west China’s Gansu Province with their two other children. Having so many mouths to feed is really a big financial burden for a rural family living in a poor area.
On January 24, Windsor KTV announced that all its 16 clubs would be closed including the one at Guomao. “We were worried that we would be laid off. Soon, news came that our company had signed a contract to share workers temporarily with Hema Fresh. On February 2, my coworkers and I started to work in Hema stores,” said Zhang.
“Windsor KTV is the first entertainment company that signed a contract with us to share their employees. Up till now, around 2,700 workers from over 40 companies in the catering industry have joined Hema’s temporary job-sharing plan,” Hu Qiugen, general manager of operation at Hema Fresh, told China Today. Hema Fresh is Alibaba’s new grocery store chain which combines traditional shopping with digital experience.
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