pjbooks Chapter 498 Tencent Mid-Level Manager Job Hopping
Chapter 498 Tencent Mid-Level Manager Job Hopping
The campus recruitment season in Beijing and Shanghai had just ended, and Lu Ran hadn't even had a chance to review the onboarding training process for new employees when Chen Mo called him one Friday night.
His tone on the other end of the phone was a little different from usual, except that it was more of a happy one.
"Mr. Lu, something's happened at Tencent. A mid-level manager has resigned and is coming to work for us."
Lu Ran was sitting in the living room scrolling through her phone when she heard this, and she sat up straighter: "Who?"
"The head of a technical group under Tencent's Intelligent Mobility Business Unit, surnamed Zhang, whose full name is Zhang Weiming, oversees a dozen people and is responsible for the operation and optimization of a certain module of the vehicle networking system. It's not a particularly high-ranking position, but it's definitely mid-level management. He submitted his resignation yesterday, completed the formalities today, and will report to us tomorrow."
Lu Ran leaned back on the sofa and thought for a moment: "Why did he leave?"
Chen Mo chuckled on the other end of the phone, a laugh that carried a hint of "this is indeed quite interesting to talk about": "Two people left his department before, two of the technical staff we poached. After they left, Zhang Weiming's project was affected, and a delivery deadline was missed. You know Tencent's internal performance evaluation system; project delays result in deductions from the responsible person's performance bonus. He had his monthly performance bonus deducted, a direct loss of 20,000 yuan."
After listening, Lu Ran was silent for two seconds, then said, "Twenty thousand?"
"Yes, 20,000. His base salary isn't low, so 20,000 isn't a huge amount for him. But the key issue is that he felt aggrieved by the deduction. He talked to our people, saying that the delay was caused by the tight schedule, and he had internally applied for an extension twice, both of which were rejected by his superiors. It wasn't his fault that the project wasn't finished, but when it came to deducting money, it was all on him. One of the two subordinates who were poached privately messaged him, asking if he was interested in joining TUTU since they were still hiring. Zhang Weiming was furious at the time, so he submitted his resume the next day."
Upon hearing this, Lu Ran had already pieced together the whole story in his mind.
The project timeline at Tencent was very tight, the technical lead's suggestions were ignored, and project delays resulted in deductions from the lead's performance bonus. Coincidentally, a former subordinate offered him a job opportunity.
These things piled up together, and what might have been just a mid-level manager's daily complaint turned into a fuse that ignited a fire right at the doorstep of a TUTU (Tuk-tuk).
"How good is he?" Lu Ran asked.
"I've spoken with him once. He has a solid technical foundation, having worked on vehicle-to-everything (V2X) operations and system optimization for six or seven years. He has a deep understanding of distributed systems and network architecture. He's also experienced in management, having led teams of over a dozen people. Although his focus doesn't completely overlap with TUTU's current main business, some of their AI engine collaborations involve IoT and data platform scenarios, so he could transition to that direction after joining."
Lu Ran thought for a moment and said, "Then arrange for him to work at the Guangzhou branch. Wang Huabing's team happens to need someone with a technical background to handle technical liaison for external projects. His background in connected vehicles has similarities to AI applications in logistics and travel scenarios, so the transition shouldn't be too difficult."
"I've already spoken to him, and he's willing to go to Shanghai," Chen Mo said. "He'll go to Shanghai tomorrow to complete his onboarding procedures, and then he'll head to Shanghai."
Lu Ran hummed in agreement, then asked, "Does Tencent know he's coming to our side?"
"They probably know. He wrote 'personal reasons' on his resignation letter, but news of mid-level managers changing jobs spreads very quickly within Tencent. The head of the Intelligent Mobility Business Unit called him this afternoon to ask where he was going. He didn't say a specific company, but the other person guessed. The call didn't end pleasantly."
Lu Ran leaned back on the sofa, considering his words for a moment: "Are there any risks on his side? Like a non-compete agreement or something?"
"I had the legal department check, and he didn't sign a non-compete clause. Less than 20% of Tencent's middle managers actually sign non-compete agreements; most sign non-compete commitment letters, which have limited legal effect. He'll be coming to complete his onboarding process tomorrow, and the legal department will confirm with him again."
After hanging up the phone, Lu Ran sat on the sofa for a while.
Zhang Weiming was the first mid-level manager from Tencent to be poached by TUTU. Although he was only the head of a technical group under the vehicle networking division, the word "mid-level manager" itself carries weight.
If handled properly, this could be made into an article.
That evening, he called the head of operations and asked him to devise a promotional plan overnight, with two key points:
First, use Zhang Weiming's case to create a "turning to the light" story, packaging the details of "Tencent deducting managers' performance bonuses because their subordinates were poached" into a narrative that "Tencent cannot retain capable employees."
Second, push the message simultaneously on the TUTU platform homepage and official community. The title should be direct and avoid beating around the bush.
The operations manager sent over three versions of the copy in the middle of the night, and Lu Ran chose the most direct one.
At 9:00 AM the next morning, a new article was pinned to the top of TUTU Technology's platform homepage, with an eight-character title: "Abandoning Darkness and Embracing Light, Welcome Lao Zhang."
The article did not mention Tencent's full name, but used the common appellation "a certain major internet company," but the details clearly indicated who it was referring to.
It describes his six years of work in the field of connected vehicles, how his project was delayed due to a tight schedule, how his performance bonus was deducted, and how he ultimately chose to leave and join TUTU.
The entire piece doesn't use words like "black" or "scolding." The narrative style is simply stating the facts, like someone explaining their reasons for changing jobs.
Less than an hour after the article was published, the number of comments in the comment section exceeded one thousand.
Some people are asking "Who is Lao Zhang?", some are guessing which "major internet company" is referring to, some are directly saying "Isn't that Tencent?", and others are forwarding the article to TUTU and other social media platforms.
The hashtag "Welcome Lao Zhang to the Light and Abandon Darkness" surged into the top five trending topics on TUTU at noon.
Tencent has not given a public response, but according to information obtained by Chen Mo from within the company, someone mentioned the matter at the weekly meeting of Tencent's Intelligent Mobility Business Unit that morning. The original words were, "TUTU is using our matter for publicity. We will not give a public response for the time being and will handle it quietly."
The head of the intelligent mobility business unit did not press further.
However, the effect of cold treatment is generally not good.
That afternoon, two more gaming media outlets contacted TUTU's public relations department, wanting to learn more details.
Chen Mo instructed the public relations department to give a unified reply: "It is not convenient to disclose specific information at this time. Please follow TUTU's official channels for the latest updates."
This "cannot be disclosed" statement itself becomes another form of gesture, giving the impression that "we have more information but it's not convenient to talk about it for the time being."
That evening, Lu Ran received another call from Chen Mo: "There's more news. After Zhang Weiming left, two people from his former department are also contacting headhunters. Those two had a good relationship with Zhang Weiming, and they probably got interested after he left. It's uncertain whether they'll come to our side, but it at least shows that morale at Tencent has been affected by this."
After listening, Lu Ran said, "Then let's continue to make contact. Let as many as we can come."
He recalled the overwhelming suppression Tencent had exerted against TUTU a few months ago, and compared it to the current situation where "poaching a mid-level manager can make headlines." He didn't consciously try to calculate the difference, but his mind unconsciously juxtaposed the two events.
After finishing the glass of water, he put it in the kitchen sink, turned off the light, and went upstairs to sleep.
Tomorrow I also need to schedule the onboarding training for those 100 campus recruits; there's a lot to do.
But he also realized something, something more important than what he was doing now.
...