Something for the weekend: Chinese crane firm Henan Mine Crane has rewarded its employees with a bonus in an unusual way.
In a video uploaded to Chinese social media, which has since gone viral, employees were gathered around a 70-metre-long table that held piles of cash worth 60 million yuan (£6.6 million). The members of staff were divided into teams of 30 and told to grab as much as they could count within 15 minutes. This would count as their bonuses.
Each team was required to choose two employees who could quickly count the money collected by the others within the allocated 15 minutes and receive an additional 100 yuan (£11) for participating.
They were allowed to keep all the money they were able to count, which was shared equally among their teammates. However, if the cash was miscounted, a sum was deducted from the overall total.
The organisation’s founder said the money-counting session was designed to add fun to its annual meeting.
More than 100 million yuan (£11 million) in year-end bonuses were given to Henan Mine employees, with one lucky employee managing to grab 100,000 yuan (£11,033).
Over the past year, the organisation sold more than 128,000 cranes, with a net profit of 260 million yuan (£28.6 million).
The video has racked up more than a million views so far and a variety of reactions. One user wrote: “Same as my company. But instead of money they give tons of workload”, while another said: “This is the kind of paperwork I want, but the company had other plans”.
This is not the first time the organisation has gained attention for the way in which it hands out employee bonuses. In 2023, it hosted a competition to award bonuses, while a video of its annual party the same year showed mountains of cash piled up on a stage.
This certainly sounds like an interesting way to distribute employee bonuses to us at Employee Benefits, if you can cope with the time pressure!