From viral dances to face-changing performances, Haidilao has made headlines for a plethora of reasons.
Now, it seems that their staff’s generous pay cheque is in the spotlight.
A Haidilao trainee manager, Ronghui, from the Plaza Singapura branch recently revealed that he earns a whopping S$10K a month. In the now-viral video, Ronghui was interviewed by a Chinese content creator about his daily life as a Haidilao employee.
What stood out the most in the video, was his monthly salary of S$10,000.
When 8days.sg checked with Haidilao Singapore, the company clarified that “this figure is an exception” and that “this case should not be seen as representative of the average income”.
A quick check on a job portal revealed that the salary of a Haidilao manager starts from S$4,244 while a management trainee’s pay starts from S$3,398 a month.
Haidilao Singapore further explained that the pay package is “influenced by a unique combination of factors, including store location, specialised role, and extensive working hours”, and that their salary structure was designed to “reflect these variables”.
We’ve reached out to HDL for further clarification on “extensive working hours” entail.
From the flurry of comments that poured in in the now-viral post, it seems that Ronghui has at least one day off per week – one comment noted that he usually takes Wednesdays off, though it is unclear if it is still the case.
Ronghui, who moved to Singapore from Fujian, China 20 years ago and is now a citizen, has worked at Haidilao Plaza Singapura for six years. He was promoted to trainee store manager over the years, and now reports to a store manager there.
Unsurprisingly, all this caused quite a stir online, with netizens questioning how a trainee manager’s pay could be so high.
“It’s time for me to send my CV in,” read a comment while another asked, “Is this the industry standard now?”
Some netizens were less concerned about salary, and were more fixated on Ronghui’s looks. They complimented him as “decent looking” while praising him for being so well-spoken in the video.
Of course, there were many asking if he was still single as well and if he can serve them when they visit the Plaza Singapura outlet.