On the afternoon of July 10th, amidst the constant hum of machinery at the plant of Hebei Jiheng Group's Lantian Sairui Company, 22-year-old electrician Wang Yonghui was conducting equipment inspections. Carrying a heavy tool bag, he moved between rows of power distribution cabinets.
Stopping at cabinet number three, Wang Yonghui took out a handheld thermal imager, carefully scanned the side of the cabinet, and monitored the steady temperature curve on the screen while checking each operational status item by item. This was his third full-line inspection of the day, with his step count long exceeding twenty thousand. In the sweltering workshop where one breaks into a sweat within minutes, Wang Yonghui is well accustomed: "As long as the equipment is running, the inspections cannot stop."
The role of a workshop electrician is a "hard job" many young people avoid. Yet Wang Yonghui, born in 2004, has firmly rooted himself on the frontline at Lantian Sairui Company. He joined the company in 2025. "Initially, I wasn't confident. I worried that only knowing theory would leave me clueless on the shop floor," he said.
What put him at ease was the company's policy of assigning a "one-on-one" mentor to every new graduate employee. Mentors provide hands-on guidance from basic procedures, repeatedly guiding them through tasks like disassembling and assembling contactors to hone practical skills, generously sharing operational techniques and maintenance experience.
For those eager to learn, there are mentors; for those seeking advancement, there are arenas for competition. Beyond the mentorship program, Lantian Sairui Company organizes employee skill competitions. In May of this year, at the company's 14th Employee Skill Competition, young technicians formed the main force, with post-2000s contestants accounting for over 30% of the finalists.
Competing in these arenas can lead to rankings and also brings growth incentives. Lantian Sairui Company has clear policies: cash rewards for competition winners, eligibility for advanced worker evaluations for outstanding performers; winning the group championship for three consecutive years qualifies one for department-head-level salary and priority recommendation for higher-level skill competitions and various awards and honors.
Post-2000s employees like Wang Yonghui are not uncommon at Lantian Sairui Company. In recent years, the enterprise has continuously expanded its recruitment scale for university graduates and established joint internship bases with colleges. Currently, the company has over 130 employees from the post-2000s generation.
With policy support, enterprises are taking action. To maximize the growth platform for young employees, Hengshui has meticulously implemented the "New Eight-Grade Worker" system, expanding the evaluation and appointment scope for master technicians and chief technicians. This provides frontline technical workers with a clear career ladder, where salary and benefits can match those of management personnel. Simultaneously, a special reform plan has been introduced, proposing 33 specific measures across eight areas, establishing a "company-industry-cloud" competition platform to comprehensively and multi-dimensionally support the growth and development of industrial workers.
After completing a round of inspections, Wang Yonghui returned to the duty room and removed his sweat-soaked safety helmet. Speaking about his initial choice to work as a factory electrician, he was pragmatic: "There are people to teach you skills hands-on, there are competitions to showcase yourself. If you do well, you don't have to worry about compensation or promotion. A technical career has a promising future, so of course we young people are willing to stay."
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