It’s no secret that being a waitress at Haidilao takes more than just being able to serve food.
Not only does one need to sing, dance or perform tricks while hand-pulling noodles, they also have to make sure they keep up with the trends.
Case in point: This particular waitress who was recently filmed performing Rosé and Bruno Mar’s viral track ‘APT’ for diners at the Uniwalk Center outlet in Shenzhen.
“Is Haidilao getting so competitive now? I thought they only sang Happy Birthday songs and pulled noodles, now they even have to dance to ‘APT’,” wrote the netizen who shared the video.
Many have since took to the comments to berate the Chinese hotpot chain for exploiting their employees just to remain current.
“If you can’t dance, you can’t be a waitress [at Haidilao],” wrote one netizen.
Another netizen, who claimed to have applied to be a waiter at Haidilao, even condemned the restaurant for “making [their staff] do so much for such little money”.
According to the netizen, the staff there have to work 12 to 13-hour shifts and only get one day off per week.
They also claimed that the staff are only paid 5400 yuan (S$998) a month, with a net pay of 4400 yuan (S$813) after taxes.
On top of that, the staff at Haidilao have to take an employee’s pledge.
The pledge includes lines such as: “I swear I will work hard because I hope for a better tomorrow” and “I am willing to humbly accept all criticism because we need to succeed too badly”.
Some netizens, however, argued that the 4400 yuan could just be a basic pay and that the staff do get over-time allowance and bonuses on top of that.