Operations interview is so stressful, HR: ChatGPT will soon replace you

Generally speaking, there will be a wave of resignations after the Spring Festival. I don’t know when it started, but it has become a “tradition” to go back to work after the New Year and resign after receiving the year-end bonus .

However, this year seems to be different. Many companies, especially cross-border e-commerce companies, are seeking ways to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Although there are still positions to recruit, the demand has decreased. According to Ennet, many sellers said they are not considering expanding their teams for the time being, while some cross-border practitioners said they dare not "willfully" leave.

Low commission, difficult to become a regular employee, unpaid trial position ... Operations: Interviews make you doubt your life

Data shows that the number of Amazon operations job openings has continued to decline in the past two years. In 2022, the number of job openings for this position has dropped by 70% compared to 2021 , and the salary has also dropped by 13%.

At this time of year in previous years, there was a wave of resignations, with many operations people leaving after receiving their year-end bonuses. Cross-border companies were also confident in recruiting and expanding their teams, but this year the situation is a little calmer.

In the editor's interview, many Amazon operators said that they would not consider leaving for at least the next few months, "The most important thing is to keep their jobs first."

In fact, many operators also expressed their desire to resign .

"My annual bonus was deducted even though my sales were 7 million. This is really hard to swallow!"

"I've been working here for a year, with monthly sales of 80,000 US dollars, and I've never received any commission. I don't want to work for Amazon anymore."

"There is a problem with the coordination between colleagues, and the beautiful work pictures are not getting the point at all."

"After returning from the New Year, I was directly notified of a pay cut, and they also gave me several more stores to run."

…

However, for them, resigning is just an idea for the time being, because the poor market conditions are obvious to all. Some operations told the editor that they are already looking for new jobs and have taken leave to attend interviews, but after several rounds, they found that it is better to "stay in the old company" for the time being.

According to feedback from these operators, the salaries of many Amazon operation positions are now decreasing, and the commission conditions are also very harsh. " Before, you could find a 6k base salary, but now it's only 4k. The base salary is low, and the commission is also low, only 1% of the gross profit, which is slightly better than being a volunteer. "

There was even an operation who said that some companies wanted applicants to bring their own products into the company . In response, the operation complained, "Why don't you give me your company account, bank card and password so that I can exchange them for something ?"

"The probationary salary is 5-6.5k, and after becoming a regular employee, you have to pay 1k for performance appraisal. This is outrageous!"

" The base salary is 6k , but the new product must achieve a gross profit of 50,000 during the trial period . "
"The base salary for regular employees is 5.5k, and they will receive five insurances after working for half a year. They will have a seven-day unpaid trial period, and they can only be regular employees if their performance reaches 30,000 euros and their profit margin reaches 20%."

"There is no commission within half a year, and we have to turn slow-selling old products into hot-selling ones."

…

The harsh working conditions have discouraged many operations staff from leaving their jobs, while some who have already left said that they will just do the job while they can. They have not found a suitable job since they left in the middle of last year. The salary has been reduced, the requirements have become higher, and they have been questioning their lives due to the interviews they have been having .

Just yesterday, an operations person told Yien.com that they now have to compete with not only people but also AI for jobs. The HR of the company that interviewed him said that ChatGPT can already replace part of the operations work, and this position will be eliminated soon, so the job requirements should not be too high .

It is difficult for job seekers to find their dream jobs, but sellers are saying that it is very easy to recruit operations personnel nowadays .

In the past few years, cross-border e-commerce has grown rapidly. After enjoying the dividends, sellers are thinking about expansion, and the demand for operational talents is high. At that time, as long as you have some operational experience or have reached level 4 in English, you can basically get a job. But now, many sellers say that the recruitment standards have changed: no fresh graduates, more than 2-3 years of operational experience, level 6 in English, and the foundation for creating hot products , etc.

The market downturn has affected sellers’ revenue, and for cross-border workers, the job search has become more difficult. What’s more troubling is that this situation will not end for the time being.

Many industry giants are laying off employees, and cross-border workers dare not even think about quitting

Since the beginning of this year, many industry giants have started to lay off employees in an attempt to win the first battle of reducing costs and increasing efficiency in 2023.

In January, Wayfair, a North American home furnishing e-commerce giant, announced that it would lay off about 1,750 employees, involving sales, operations, technology, administration and other positions, accounting for 10% of the global workforce. Due to layoffs, Wayfair expects to incur about $68 million to $78 million in severance and welfare costs.

But it said the adjustments to its cost plan would save the company about $750 million in labor costs each year.

At the end of December last year , Amazon announced a new round of layoffs that could increase to 20,000 people and last until 2023. Now, its multiple sites in the United States and India have already carried out the first wave of layoffs, involving more than 1,000 people each, and sites in Spain and the United Kingdom are also preparing for employee reorganization. In the fourth quarter alone, Amazon's employee severance pay expenses reached $640 million .

It's not just Amazon. Another American e-commerce giant, eBay , also recently announced plans to cut 4% of its employees.

Last year, the online payment giant PayPal 's platform payment volume hit a record low since its listing , and it announced that it would reduce expenses by laying off employees and closing sites. At the end of January, PayPal announced that it would lay off 2,000 employees, about 7% of its total employees .

PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said the 2023 layoffs and site closures will save the company $1.3 billion in expenses.

In January, SaaS independent website building platform BigCommerce announced a 13 % staff cut .

In the same month, the US express giant FedEx announced that it would lay off more than 10% of its executives and directors to cut costs and cope with the economic recession and declining consumer demand. FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam said that with the latest round of layoffs, the total number of layoffs at FedEx since June last year will reach 12,000.

Flexport, a well-known digital freight forwarder in the industry, also cut 20% of its employees worldwide .

This is just a microcosm of the massive layoffs in the cross-border e-commerce field.

At present, more and more companies are significantly shrinking their fronts in order to stabilize the foundation of their company's development. In the US market, according to a report recently released by the US employment consulting company Challenger, in January this year alone , US companies announced a total of 102,943 layoffs, setting a record since 2020. The scale of layoffs is more than double that of December last year and increased by 440% compared with January last year .

The consumer and retail sectors are the hardest hit by layoffs . Hasbro , a giant in the US toy industry, announced a 15% layoff . Even McDonald 's announced that it will implement a large-scale restructuring and layoffs plan this year.

The gradual contraction of online demand , the impact of unfavorable macroeconomic factors, and the deepening economic uncertainty have forced a number of cross-border related companies to choose to "cut off their arms to protect themselves", and the wave of layoffs has intensified .

Whether you are a big seller or a small or medium-sized seller, 2023 will be a bumpy year for cross-border practitioners .

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