Recently I talked with some friends from big companies about income issues.

It is not difficult for ordinary people in big cities to earn 200,000 yuan a year through hard work, such as passing the civil service exam, the teacher exam, and entering a large company. It does not require much talent, but the ceiling is about 400,000-500,000 yuan, which most people cannot surpass. But for employees of large companies, 400,000-500,000 yuan is a starting point. If you work hard, you can achieve it around the age of 30, and then there is room for advancement. Many people can reach the 1 million level. If you are excellent or have good opportunities, you can rise to the 2 million level. If you go above that, you are no longer a worker, and you have to be called "General" in the world.

Financial institutions have been cutting salaries in the past two years, but large companies have not. However, employee income is divided into two parts: cash and options. Cash income has not changed much, and the stock price has plummeted, so the options are almost equivalent to nothing. Grassroots employees may not be affected too much, but the proportion of options for middle-level and above employees is large, and their income may be cut in half. For example, those who used to earn two or three million now have more than one million left; those who used to earn one hundred may now have to pay 80% off, which actually reflects the effect of salary cuts. The situation of different large companies is different. Huawei, which is the most comfortable, has no impact because it has not gone public, and its income may even have increased; companies with relatively strong stock prices such as Big Goose are less affected, while Alibaba's stock price crash has a greater impact, so companies are desperately repurchasing not only to appease the capital market, but also to appease employees.

It has basically no impact on daily life. After all, it is still the ceiling of ordinary people's income. This also shows that working in a large company is still one of the best choices for ordinary people. Extravagant behaviors, such as sending children to international schools, studying abroad, eating in high-end restaurants, buying bags for wives, etc., are all cut. The psychological impact is great. I don't think my income can be increased, and I often worry about what to do if I am optimized. But it's very interesting when it comes to houses.

Those who bought at high prices before were in great pain, as house prices have dropped by 30% and mortgages still need to be repaid. But those who did not buy at high prices are very comfortable, because house prices have fallen more than wages, and buying a house has become easier.

For example, if you used to earn 1 million, but now you have 200,000 less, but this is before tax. Since the maximum individual tax is 45%, you will only get a little more than 100,000 less. For a house worth 10 million, the value has actually dropped by more than 3 million, and the anxiety of buying a house has completely disappeared. At present, the Chinese Internet is rebounding. If it can return to a relatively reasonable position, the income of employees of large companies will also rebound. Although it may not return to a high level, considering the comprehensive housing prices, it will be surprising to find that purchasing power has increased.

In fact, the same is true for other industries. The decline in housing prices will severely suppress consumption at the beginning, because the whole society feels that it has become poorer and dare not spend money.

But as long as we can wait for a small industry recovery and a small rebound in income, everyone will find that cash flow is actually better than in the era of high housing prices, and consumption may recover.

The problem is that I don’t know when I can squat.