A leading enterprise valued at 20 billion yuan was taught a lesson by 107 fresh graduates.

440 campus recruitment offers, 107 notices of labor contract termination.

This is an unforgettable workplace memory left to 107 fresh graduates by Changzhou Xingyu Automotive Lighting Systems Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xingyu Co., Ltd."), the leading domestic automotive lighting manufacturer, in the summer of 2026.

Faced with the negotiated resignation plan offered by the company, this batch of fresh graduates did not passively accept it, but chose to stand up voluntarily to speak for their rights and interests. The young people who were persuaded to resign sent complaint letters to the supply chain compliance department of Xingyu Co., Ltd.'s partners.

On September 1, a spokesperson for Volkswagen China confirmed to the media that it had received relevant complaints about the supplier and "launched a special investigation immediately, which is currently underway".

Why did a leading listed company in the industry take the move of persuading a large number of campus recruits to resign? What enlightenment has this turmoil brought to other listed companies?

01 In 37 days, how a "choose one from two" scheme broke the campus recruitment contract

During the 2025 autumn recruitment season, Xingyu Co., Ltd. recruited 440 fresh graduates for the 2026 cohort, most of whom held master's degrees, with positions mainly in R&D, technical and management trainee fields.

During the recruitment presentation, the HR clearly stated that only a 1-month rotation experience in the workshop would be arranged, and after the period, the employees would return to the signed technical positions.

The photo shows the on-site registration of fresh graduates of Xingyu Co., Ltd. in July 2026

In early July 2026, 440 fresh graduates successively reported for duty.

The unexpected change occurred only one month after their entry.

Since the beginning of August, the human resources department has carried out centralized interviews with new campus recruits in batches, launching a highly controversial "choose one from two" scheme: one option is to sign the resignation agreement voluntarily for "personal reasons", and get half a month's salary as compensation; the other option is for fresh graduates who refuse to sign, they will be forcibly transferred to the workshop assembly line to engage in operator positions such as car lamp plugging and screw tightening, and their salaries will be re-determined according to the standard for general workers.

What made the fresh graduate employees even more dissatisfied was the implicit coercion during the interview.

The photo shows the situation disclosed by the fresh graduates to the media

According to the conversation recordings disclosed by multiple media outlets, the HR pressured the fresh graduates with remarks such as "There is an HR group of more than 400 people in Changzhou, and only if you sign, your subsequent background check will not be affected", and persuaded them to resign on the grounds that "the company's operation has some situations" and "the organizational structure adjustment leads to post downsizing".

On August 25 after public opinion fermented, the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province issued a situation notification, confirming that Xingyu Co., Ltd. "adopted simple and crude methods in the negotiation process, lacked full and effective communication, and caused adverse effects". Xingyu Co., Ltd. has suspended the human resources director from his post; after investigation, the enterprise did not have the act of illegally enjoying government subsidies for employment and talent programs; as of the date of the notification, 22 of the 107 people have found employment, and 14 have participated in interviews of other enterprises.

The photo shows the apology letter from Xingyu Co., Ltd.

August 27, Xingyu Co., Ltd. issued an apology letter, admitting that "the management had decision-making errors and management omissions; in the specific implementation, the communication was blunt and the methods were simple, without taking into account the vital interests of the students", and launched three remedial measures: immediately distribute 3-month job-hunting living subsidies and continue to provide free accommodation; actively contact other enterprises to provide suitable positions and organize special job fairs held by the human resources and social security department; those who have not obtained formal employment before the end of November will be given 6 months' salary as compensation.

For the 107 fresh graduates who were laid off, the loss is far more than just a job.

The photo shows the subsidies received by the resigned fresh graduate employees

Some fresh graduates who were persuaded to resign confirmed to the media that on the morning of August 27, many employees who joined Xingyu Co., Ltd. through campus recruitment in the same period had received the 3-month job-hunting living subsidy, with a total amount of 15,000 yuan per person.

This monetary compensation is far from making up for the actual losses suffered by the fresh graduates.

In the view of many fresh graduate employees, paying social insurance after joining the company has made them lose their precious status as fresh graduates, directly missing a large number of employment channels for fresh graduates; the work experience of only more than a month has not accumulated complete practical project experience, which also adds many obstacles to their subsequent job hunting.

02 The market value of Xingyu Co., Ltd. has evaporated by about 1.56 billion yuan

Xingyu Co., Ltd. is a leading supplier in the domestic automotive lighting industry, serving many mainstream automakers, and is recently sprinting for H-share listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

From the financial report data, we may get a clearer view of the business considerations behind this centralized persuasion of resignation.

The photo shows the 2026 semi-annual report of Xingyu Co., Ltd.

The 2026 semi-annual report recently released by Xingyu Co., Ltd. shows that the company's operating revenue in the first half of the year was 6.884 billion yuan, a slight year-on-year increase of 1.87%; the net profit attributable to shareholders was 669 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5.26%; the non-recurring profit and loss deducted net profit was 651 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5.35%.

By quarter, the year-on-year growth rates of revenue and net profit in Q1 2026 reached 10.84% and 10.26% respectively, but the revenue in Q2 alone was 3.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year -5.7%, the net profit attributable to shareholders was 314 million yuan, a year-on-year -18.3%.

The company attributed the decline in performance to three points in the semi-annual report: the domestic sales of downstream passenger cars were sluggish, and the sales of some supporting models failed to meet expectations; the prices of some raw materials rose; because a large number of Xingyu's products are exported, the foreign currency assets on the account will "shrink" when converted into RMB as the RMB appreciates, so the exchange loss in the first half of the year increased significantly, and the financial expenses turned from -8.91 million yuan in the same period of the previous year to 22.79 million yuan.

However, Xingyu Co., Ltd. has quite abundant capital on its books.

As disclosed in the 2026 first quarter report, the company's cash and equivalents exceeded 2 billion yuan; the net cash flow from operating activities in the whole year of 2025 increased by 168% year-on-year.

From the perspective of financial data, the company is far from the situation where it needs to terminate the labor contracts of 107 fresh graduates to "meet an emergency".

If we look at the past few years, we can see that Xingyu Co., Ltd. has made a preferential strategic adjustment between outsourced workers and regular employees.

The photo shows the number of on-the-job employees shown in the 2025 annual report

At the end of 2024, the total number of employees of Xingyu Co., Ltd. was 10426, but it dropped to 7532 at the end of 2025, with a net decrease of 2894 people in one year.

The labor outsourcing working hours increased from 2.384 million hours in 2022 to 10.874 million hours in 2025, a 3.5-fold increase in three years, and the labor outsourcing remuneration increased from 65.727 million yuan to 302 million yuan.

The number of regular on-the-job personnel has shrunk significantly, while the outsourced working hours have multiplied. Behind the decrease and increase, Xingyu Co., Ltd. is using outsourcing to replace regular headcounts, converting long-term fixed labor costs into variable costs that can be flexibly cut.

The timing of this persuasion of newly recruited fresh graduates to resign is particularly sensitive.

On July 29, 2026, Xingyu Co., Ltd. submitted its H-share listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the second time, restarting the "A+H" listing plan that had been shelved for half a year. It is still uncertain whether this resignation persuasion turmoil will have a substantial impact on the subsequent listing process.

But the Hong Kong Stock Exchange also pays attention to large-scale personnel changes and labor-related risks during the reporting period.

The secondary market has already responded first. On August 24, the keyword "Xingyu Co., Ltd. persuades fresh graduates to resign" became a hot search on Weibo, the closing price was 83.68 yuan, down 3.26% on the single day, and the total market value was 23.906 billion yuan.

As of the close on September 1, the stock price was reported at 78.22 yuan, with a total market value of 22.346 billion yuan. The market value has evaporated by about 1.56 billion yuan in total since the incident fermented.

On August 27, "People's Sharp Review" under People's Daily commented on this incident and clearly pointed out that when the enterprise is in good operating condition, it persuades a large number of fresh graduates who have just left school to resign, making the contract a "note" that can be torn up at any time. This is not only a disregard for the legitimate rights and interests of workers, but also a blatant violation of the spirit of contract and social credit.

Many enterprises only regard human resources as a cost item, but forget that the campus recruitment contract itself is part of the corporate credit.

However, listed companies enjoy the valuation premium of the capital market, and also assume corresponding social responsibilities.

When "ensuring profits, ensuring dividends, and ensuring IPO" and "taking care of new employees" are placed on both ends of the balance, choosing the former may be in line with short-term interests, but it will leave a long-term debt on the employer brand.

What the 107 fresh graduates are fighting for is not only the dignity of a labor contract, but also the bottom line of trust in the "campus recruitment contract" of the entire job market.

This article is from WeChat official account "Phoenix Finance", the author is Corporate Research Institute, and it is authorized to be published by 36Kr.