Recently, the topic labeled as “The person who originally penalized riders is now delivering food after being unemployed” has sparked heated discussions. According to a report by Sohu Finance on October 25, Emperor, born in the 1980s, formerly worked as a product manager for food delivery platforms in three internet giants, with a monthly income reaching up to 40,000 RMB. A few years ago, Emperor took the lead in formulating the penalty system for riders in the food delivery industry within the platform.
Now, burdened with a high mortgage, Emperor and his wife are both unemployed. After sending nearly 2000 resumes, he has temporarily chosen to work part-time delivering food on various platforms while also engaging in self-media. Emperor, who had been penalized in the past, admitted to feeling trapped in the system he himself established.
Emperor stated that he led the establishment of various management and penalty measures for riders within the company, with the original intention of improving service quality. However, now he has become part of the management governed by these rules and found some of these regulations to be unreasonable. He had designed strict penalty mechanisms such as fines and deduction of performance to ensure that riders comply with traffic regulations and service standards. However, in the actual implementation process, these measures often lead riders to take risky behaviors, such as riding against traffic or running red lights, in order to fulfill orders.
This incident immediately sparked discussions on the internet.
Netizens commented: “The boomerang hit me precisely a few years later,” “The person who formulated the rules should experience the rules themselves,” “It’s like a self-imposed curse.”
Some netizens also said: “The original strategy was still reasonable because from the platform’s perspective, it should be formulated this way to maximize platform interests; but now, as a food delivery worker, of course, one would feel that the initial rules were flawed because the roles have switched, and their own interests have been damaged as a result. However, they understand how the rules were established, so they don’t feel unjustified.”
New media blogger and influential Weibo user “sven_shi” posted: “It’s quite a classic example. Internet industry income has been steadily rising, and suddenly being unemployed hits hard. Life had been planned based on continuous growth, so it takes a lot of time to readjust after the fall.”