It turns out that the layoffs of enterprises are not just their "housework". In recent years, many companies have made layoffs and related news, but the recent "mass exhortation of fresh graduates" of Xingyu Co., Ltd. still made a lot of noise. Why? To a large extent, not only did the company recruit 440 2026 university graduates and then terminate the labor contracts with 107 of them, but more importantly, these young people who just left the school did not stay in the traditional channels of labor inspection and arbitration, but further delivered the materials to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, extraterritorial related compliance channels, and the global compliance departments of core customers such as Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. When overseas car companies began to examine the employment compliance of suppliers, people realized that how a company treats employees may not only be their own internal management problems, but may even be transmitted to supply chain risks and business risks. This also exposes an easily overlooked shortcomings of China's car market - cars can be built better and better, and factories can be built all over the world, but is the company's ESG and governance capabilities really keeping up? This issue was repeatedly raised at the recent 20th anniversary forum of the Automotive Talent Committee of the Chinese Talent Research Association. Fu Yu, the former chairman of the Automotive Talent Professional Committee of the China Talent Research Association, said bluntly: "I think the understanding of ESG by domestic enterprises is still very shallow and requires crazy remedial lessons. Overseas markets have strict requirements on the environment, social responsibility and corporate governance, and compliance is the bottom line for going to sea. "Paid to the President of the Automotive Talent Professional Committee of the Wuhan China Talent Research Association. So, why should we" make up for the madness "? More exciting videos, all in the car home video platform first, the car out of the sea is not just a product first to see a big background. In recent years, how fast have domestic cars gone to sea? According to the data of the China Automobile Association, in the first seven months of 2026, the export of complete vehicles has exceeded 6 million vehicles, an increase of 66.8% year-on-year, and the export of parts and components is 60.7 billion US dollars, an increase of 8.5% year-on-year, with export regions all over the world. At the same time, the domestic automobile industry chain is also accelerating" going out ". At present, there are more than 20 overseas complete vehicle process factories that have been merged with, built or under construction by Chinese-funded enterprises, and more and more parts and components enterprises have begun to set up factories overseas. For example, Xingyu has a factory in Serbia, which is deeply embedded in the global automobile supply chain. This means that companies are no longer just facing domestic laws and regulations, but also supply chain standards for overseas customers, as well as increasingly stringent ESG rules. Labor rights, occupational health, and work safety are no longer just HR issues, but are more likely to become business risks. Do you think that only overseas car companies such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz will take action? Liang Xiaohui, deputy chief economist of China Textile Information Center, revealed that among the Chinese automobile companies they serve, some companies have downgraded the supplier cooperation level of Xingyu to C level. Once the supplier rating is lowered, it will not only affect the order size and purchase price, but also may lead to higher transaction costs. Liang Xiaohui, deputy chief economist of China Textile Information Center, many car companies do not know the severity of the problem, but it is true that some Chinese car companies have also taken relevant actions, but also afraid of being involved, so that sales in Europe have a huge impact. II. How serious are the consequences of ESG non-compliance? For global car companies such as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, supply chain management has long been more than just a procurement problem. It also binds brand reputation, legal responsibilities and consumer risks. Liang Xiaohui mentioned at the forum that the international market is paying special attention to the issue of labor due diligence in the supply chain. The new EU regulations have been implemented. In any part of the world, once a certain part of the supply chain touches the relevant red line, even if this product is just a screw in your car, it may have an impact on the product's entry into the European market. Therefore, when companies have to lay off employees, they must not only be satisfied that they have not violated domestic laws, but also pay attention to the rights and interests of employees protected by global supply chain companies and extraterritorial rules. This is a governance behavior within the company, but also related to the business behavior of the industry chain. Yang Hong, chairman and president of Shenzhen Hangsheng Electronics, also stressed that ESG compliance is becoming an important condition for overseas market access, and non-compliance may face risks such as orders and market access. More importantly, ESG can't just stay in one report. It will eventually fall into every aspect of "selecting, educating, employing, and managing people". 3. Beware of the "short-termism" behind the waves of Xingyu, there is another question worth thinking about: When the automotive industry enters the stock competition, will companies become more and more accustomed to using short-term efficiency to solve long-term problems? According to the 2026 H1 semi-annual report, Xingyu's operating income was about 6.884 billion yuan, an increase of 187% year-on-year; however, the attributable net profit was about 669 million yuan, a decrease of 5.26% year-on-year. Increasing revenue without increasing profits is the epitome of the entire automotive industry today. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to July this year, the cumulative retail sales of domestic automobiles fell by 13% year-on-year, the largest decline among all commodity categories. According to the data of the Multiplier Federation Branch, the total profit of the automobile industry fell by 20% year-on-year in the same period, and the profit margin fell to about 3.6%. Companies are becoming increasingly anxious as the auto industry enters stock competition. Product iteration is getting faster and faster. In the first half of this year, nearly 600 new models were listed, with an average of 3 new cars on the market every day. The speed of technology iteration is 3 times that of mobile phones. When Yang Hong talked about the "inner roll" of the automobile industry, he also pointed out a phenomenon worthy of vigilance: the roots of the inner roll in the industry are not only in the market competition itself, but also in the use of human logic and talent evaluation, and there is a deviation in the mode of talent competition. In turn, the inner roll further distorts the employment orientation of the industry. Some enterprises pursue the blind expansion of R&D personnel on the scale of the team. The increase in scale and output efficiency has not been improved synchronously, resulting in internal friction inner roll. He also pointed out that employing people values short-term output, employees dare not do long-term precipitation, and tend to be quick to take effect in the short term. Practitioners form a short-term arbitrage mentality and intensify internal competition. This will distort the entire industry's values and destroy the environment for the orderly development of the entire industry. After all, cars are not FMCG. True technology, talent, and organizational capabilities all take time to settle down. Summary: As Fu Yuwu mentioned at the forum, an important point is that Chinese enterprises going out to sea cannot simply copy the domestic "inner roll" model. In the next stage, the domestic automobile industry chain must not only build good cars and factories, but also learn to abide by global rules, respect local culture, manage global supply chains, and truly respect talents. This is the piece of the puzzle that Chinese enterprises really need to fill in to go from "going out" to "going far". (By/Automobile House Peng Fei).