short series

I Raised My Employees' Salaries—Why Am I Accused of Disrupting the Market?

share time: 2026-02-09 07:08:31

Lin Xiaoman, a small business owner who finally stabilized her company after three years of struggle, decides to give all her employees a 20% salary raise—an act of gratitude for their shared hardships. But the next day, she’s summoned by the industry association and accused of “breaking the unwritten salary rules.” Fellow entrepreneurs pressure her to reverse the raise, claiming she’s “ruining the low-cost competition balance.” As she faces exclusion from peers, Lin also has to ease her employees’ anxiety—some fear pay cuts, others secretly help her find clients. To her shock, she uncovers an industry “tacit agreement”: everyone has been quietly suppressing wages to avoid upsetting the status quo. Now Lin is torn—should she cave to “market norms” or stand by her conscience? Can her tiny company survive this “salary raise storm”?

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