Recently, mainland Chinese life insurance company Minsheng Life has been accused of laying off employees based on their zodiac signs not aligning with the Chairman. One employee who is a Snake zodiac sign claimed to have been dismissed for this reason, while another former employee stated that their zodiac sign had affected their performance evaluations and promotions. On August 22, Minsheng Life’s customer service denied these claims, stating that there is currently no independent investigation conclusion.
On August 21, a netizen disclosed that during a personnel adjustment, Minsheng Life terminated some Snake zodiac sign employees and linked this decision to the Chairman Lu Weiding being a Pig zodiac sign, thus suggesting a clash of zodiac signs. Another post mentioned that employees who had worked for many years but did not hold a bachelor’s degree were also negatively impacted.
According to reports from mainland Chinese media, an employee of Minsheng Life who is in the process of leaving the company stated that they are a Snake zodiac sign and were informed by the company of their dismissal on August 21. This employee wanted to indicate “resigned due to zodiac sign issues” in their resignation documents, but the HR personnel did not approve, leading to a dispute between the two parties.
Another Snake zodiac sign employee who recently left the company mentioned that zodiac factors had influenced their annual performance evaluations and promotions. This employee explained that during the 2024 year-end evaluation, their direct supervisor was concerned that their A+ rating needed approval from the Chairman, and personal information might cause issues due to zodiac signs, ultimately adjusting the evaluation result to an A.
In the comments section of related rumor posts, a netizen claiming to have just been fired left a message stating that they are a Snake zodiac sign and hold a bachelor’s degree from a prestigious university; while another individual suggested that the company was also dismissing employees over 35 years old or those whose education did not meet the standard.
These reports have sparked discussions online. One post sarcastically remarked, “Do we need to check fortunes before going to work now?” Some netizens questioned whether an insurance company should base personnel decisions on zodiac signs.
On August 22, Minsheng Life’s customer service staff stated that the company had not received any notification regarding “zodiac-related layoffs” and indicated that certain information circulating online had already affected the company’s reputation and image of top executives.
Additionally, according to reports from Red Star News, the customer service staff mentioned that the screenshots spread online were false, and the company had retained evidence of this, stating that legal action would be taken against those fabricating and spreading misinformation.
The responses provided did not mention the scale of the recent personnel adjustments or which positions were affected, nor did they clarify if age and education were criteria for evaluation.
Minsheng Life is effectively controlled by the Wanxiang Group, with Lu Weiding serving as both the Chairman and CEO of Wanxiang Group, as well as the Chairman of Minsheng Life.
A source quoted by Sina Finance said that the Wanxiang Group’s organizational resource department responsible for personnel management understands employees’ zodiac signs, blood types, and constellations. Another Minsheng Life employee mentioned the existence of an “Organizational Resources Committee” within the company. These statements have not been confirmed by the Wanxiang Group or Minsheng Life.
In a comment published by financial self-media “Niudao Finance,” it was stated that if employees’ accusations are proven true, the issue goes beyond the Chairman’s personal preferences, revealing a conflict between the Wanxiang system’s personnel management mechanisms and modern corporate governance. The article believes that using factors such as education and zodiac signs as criteria for performance evaluation and retention deviates from the employment principles based on professional abilities and job performance.