"This guy makes a lot of sense!" Boss Huang and Liu Nian simultaneously thought. It did sound quite reasonable, and they were already convinced.
However, Liu Nian quickly raised a new concern: "But most high school students are under 18, aren't they? If you recruit them now, wouldn't that be considered child labor?"
This question plunged the meeting into silence. Yes, employing minors under 18 did carry the risk of child labor. This was no laughing matter; if found guilty of employing child labor, Boss Huang could end up in jail.
"Actually... the legal limit for child labor is 16! I believe most high school graduates are over that age!" Hu Jing reminded them softly, and the atmosphere immediately lightened up again.
"But students who score over 130 in both Chinese and Math are likely to have high scores in other subjects as well. Such students are generally admitted to top universities in the country. Would they be willing to give up college and come work for our Jiangnan Group directly?"
"Even if they are willing, would their parents be?" Liu Nian posed another constructive question.
"I'll pay them a high salary directly. Ten thousand yuan a month upon entry, which is higher than 99% of university graduates. Isn't that enough?" Zuo Sicheng said imperiously, believing money was the solution.
This statement revealed Zuo Sicheng's lack of social understanding. Even with a starting salary exceeding 99% of university graduates, most high school graduates meeting the entry requirements would likely not choose to join Jiangnan Group.
For both the college entrance examination candidates and their parents, the complete university experience was a necessary journey. Even with more money, these parents and high school students would probably be unwilling.
"What if we promise a 10-year contract and guarantee continued employment as long as there are no disciplinary issues, with salary increases?" Boss Huang suggested.
"That would be helpful, but not significantly," Liu Nian commented. "Even with a 10-year contract, there's a risk of not renewing. But by then, their children wouldn't have a university degree, and parents wouldn't agree!"
"Also, their parents might worry that our company could go bankrupt within 10 years, especially since you've gone bankrupt before!"
"..." Boss Huang was speechless at Liu Nian's remark.
[Quick poll: If you scored high enough to be admitted to a 985 university, but a company offered you 30,000 yuan a month for research and development with a contract of at least 10 years and a high probability of renewal, what would you choose!]
"Then let's just open a school!" Zuo Sicheng immediately blurted out. Although he was being sarcastic, his words made Boss Huang's eyes light up. He then laughed, "That's a good idea. Why don't we just open a school?"
"..." Zuo Sicheng and Liu Nian were stunned into silence, with only Boss Huang talking to himself, "I recall the state is currently promoting all-around higher education and has opened up private vocational and technical institutions, recognizing bachelor's degrees from private institutions. It's not impossible for us to establish our own university!"
Well, their boss was actually planning to run a university. Rich people really did think of things on a whim! Zuo Sicheng and Liu Nian thought to themselves. Then Liu Nian said, "Boss, if we were to establish a private university, according to the relevant policies, private institutions can at most be second-tier universities, admitting students in the second batch. This would make it impossible to recruit the students we need!"
"That's where you're wrong. Second-tier universities only admit in the second batch; it doesn't mean high-scoring students are not allowed to apply. If students scoring over 600 are willing to list our school when filling out their college applications, no one can stop them!" Boss Huang said with a smile.
"..." The other two were speechless again. Would talented students willing to study at 985 and 211 universities choose to attend a second-tier school like theirs?
"Whether it's possible or not, we'll only know by trying! Our school does have an advantage," Boss Huang chuckled. "As you know, how many students from universities nationwide are desperately trying to get into our company each year? Even among Tsinghua and Peking University students, over 20% are competing for positions in our company. Campus recruitment is said to be extremely intense."
"So, we just need to announce a policy for our school: all students who graduate normally from the college will be directly arranged to work at Jiangnan Group without going through campus recruitment, becoming official employees of Jiangnan Group's subsidiaries!"
"What!" Zuo Sicheng and Liu Nian were genuinely shocked this time. "Boss, the quality of students admitted to this university will be mixed. If we accept all graduates as official employees, won't that have a negative impact? And if all graduates of the school join the company, it will likely exhaust our annual recruitment quota!"
"There's no need for our school to be so widespread. I suggest starting with four departments: Computer Science, Railway Engineering, Materials Science, and Mechanical Manufacturing. Add a Business School, making a total of five disciplines. Furthermore, each department and major will only offer one to two classes. The entire school will have about 40 classes, with 50 students per class, totaling around 2,000 students."
"Our company can easily absorb 2,000 people annually. As for talent, I believe we can strengthen graduation management, unlike the current university system where students can graduate even if they fail over a dozen courses. We must strictly control our management system. If a student fails even one course, they will not be allowed to graduate. Insufficient credits will also prevent graduation. We will strictly control the graduation line and ensure that no slacking students graduate!" Boss Huang stated unequivocally.
"Moreover, since it's our school, we can train students entirely according to our company's needs. We don't need to teach those useless subjects that have no practical meaning for actual work. We will only teach what is practically needed in our work, production, and research."
"In addition, we can invite many of our company's frontline researchers to teach at the school. We can also arrange for about half of the time each year to be spent interning in various positions within the company. This integrated approach to industry, academia, and research will surely produce more useful talent than those recruited through campus hiring."
"Also, I don't think we need to charge any tuition fees. The money is insignificant to us. We will also provide additional living and internship subsidies to each student. They could even earn around 1,000 yuan per month after studying."
"Of course, we are not philanthropists. These fees are not waived out of goodwill. Similar to normal teacher training institutions, this is targeted training, and a targeted training agreement must be signed."
"It will stipulate that they must work for Jiangnan Group for 10 years. Unless we don't want them, they are not allowed to leave the company. If they breach the contract, they will have to pay huge compensation!" The more Boss Huang thought about it, the more feasible it seemed, and his voice became excited.
"This can actually work!" Zuo Sicheng and Liu Nian nodded. This approach would indeed be quite good, and they at least felt hopeful about the students trained by the school.
"But Boss, I can't wait for four years. You need the product in 2009, so you'll need these 1,000 people by the end of this year at the latest!" Zuo Sicheng said.
"Alright, we can have an additional recruitment plan. The 1,000 people you need will be listed in this plan. Within the Computer Science department, we will open several targeted training classes. Only those who meet the Chinese and Math score requirements can enter these classes!"
"Of course, as special targeted training classes, we can do some early promotion, informing everyone that if they join this class, they will not only not pay any tuition fees but also receive a monthly subsidy of 10,000 yuan. Furthermore, if they successfully graduate after four years, their salary will immediately increase to 30,000 yuan per month, with annual raises and a stable 10-year employment contract!"
"These talents will first study for half a semester in the classes, learning all the foundational knowledge of hexadecimal computers and the relevant underlying technologies we have already developed."
"After the first semester of the freshman year begins, they will be directly assigned to work in laboratories and research centers. This is called integrated industry-academia-research teaching, and learning through practical work is the best learning method!"
"These students will definitely be very grateful!"
"Add the conditions for other regular majors, and then launch a comprehensive promotion. I will establish a school committee and allocate several hundred million yuan for it to acquire a college. I think we can directly acquire an existing school in Wenzhou... or perhaps acquire my alma mater, Wenzhou University. After all, most of the majors in this school are third-tier, with only one independent college being second-tier, responsible for the private school conditions."
"Moreover, in our hometown, there are many conveniences."
"There are still 4 months before the graduation season, so time seems a bit tight... Hu Jing, please expedite the arrangements and get it done as quickly as possible. Don't be stingy with money. We've only spent less than 20 billion of our 60 billion, and we still have 40 billion that we don't know how to spend!" Huang He said.
"Yes!" Hu Jing nodded calmly, not finding the order at all outlandish. Thus, the private Wenzhou Jiangnan University, which would later shock China's entire education sector, was established in a phone conference.
No one knew that the original purpose of this phone conference was because a guy named Andy Rubin had angered our Boss Huang, so he called a few people to a meeting to complain, discovered their dissatisfaction, and coincidentally established it.
Even less did anyone know that the original purpose of establishing this college was simply to prevent Zuo Sicheng from recruiting child labor!