Recently, Xi'an New Oriental released the "Homecoming Plan", inviting employees who left during the epidemic to return.
"Long time no see, I miss you so much. Welcome back home," this is the enthusiastic call from New Oriental to its departing employees on its official website.
However, the homing plan was mistakenly read as "capable again" for off campus training, and even "spring has arrived". Some people are eager to give it a try amidst the sound of misreading, waiting for the return of off campus training in compulsory education disciplines that are no longer approved.
New Oriental released a statement on February 26th stating that the Homecoming Plan does not involve subject training in compulsory education.
New Oriental sources told 21st Century Business Herald that the Home Plan has been released multiple times nationwide since 2022, mainly targeting the development needs of emerging businesses such as Oriental Selection and New Oriental Culture and Tourism, with the aim of resettling old employees for re employment. The job requirements include both new business related positions such as direct broadcasting and culture and tourism, as well as traditional business positions such as teaching, research, and functional roles.
Recently, the website of the Ministry of Education released the draft of the Regulations on the Management of Extracurricular Training (for soliciting opinions), further consolidating the achievements of "double reduction".
Experts point out that the regulation of off campus training is neither "tightened" nor "relaxed", but rather a continuation of the previous "double reduction" opinions and the regulations governing off campus training, fully integrating the governance of off campus training into the track of rule of law.
Transforming and homing all the way
New Oriental's homing plan is not the first to be released recently, but can be traced back to August 2022.
At that time, the positions open for the homing plan included anchors, brand public relations, sales operations, etc. According to reports, a former employee of New Oriental stated that they have received a text message regarding their return home plan.
"I'll bring them back when New Oriental is good" "I really miss them"... In the live broadcast room, Dong Yuhui talked about his former colleagues who resigned from New Oriental and expressed his true feelings.
The homing plan has also witnessed the transformation of New Oriental. In June 2022, Dong Yuhui went viral, and Dongfang Zhenxuan's transformation into live streaming sales and self operated products was initially successful.
According to the 2024 mid year report recently released by Dongfang Zhenxuan, as of November 30, 2023, the total number of self operated products and live streaming e-commerce teams has reached 1587.
Dongfang Zhenxuan's GMV for half a fiscal year has reached 5.7 billion yuan, with a revenue of nearly 2.8 billion yuan. Relying solely on the original teaching staff of New Oriental can no longer meet the demand. It is understood that Dongfang Zhenxuan is constantly recruiting e-commerce professionals. According to the interim report, the supply chain and product team have reached 643 people.
At present, the strong transformation of Dongfang Zhenxuan has accounted for a considerable proportion of New Oriental's total revenue. The performance report for the second quarter of the 2024 fiscal year as of November 30, 2023, released by New Oriental, shows that out of the revenue of $869.6 million in this quarter, overseas related businesses (including overseas exam preparation and overseas consulting) contributed 21% of the total revenue, domestic college student business accounted for 6%, and new educational businesses and other retained traditional businesses accounted for a total of about 44%.
During the process of business transformation, the demand for talent in various sectors of New Oriental has surged.
New Oriental officials told 21st Century Business Herald that after the release of the first batch of homing plans, New Oriental will gradually release multiple batches of homing plans nationwide in 2022 and 2023. The latest open homing program positions point to a new direction of transformation - cultural and tourism. It is reported that the Xi'an New Oriental Homecoming Plan has added positions such as cultural and tourism anchor, cultural and tourism live broadcast operation, cultural and tourism consultant, cultural and tourism short video operation, and video director.
"Our tourism business will fully utilize our advantages, such as teacher resources and sales channel resources. Our business will be divided into education and cultural tourism, and we hope that the cultural tourism business will contribute more revenue and profits to New Oriental in the future," said Yang Zhihui, CEO and CFO of New Oriental, at the Q2 2024 financial report
The above-mentioned New Oriental personnel said that since the launch of the homing plan, more than 7600 employees have returned to New Oriental through the plan.
Further consolidate the achievements of "double reduction"
After the end of the Spring Festival holiday, A-shares ushered in a "consecutive sunny day", and the collective popularity of education stocks appeared particularly eye-catching.
According to investment professionals, the draft of the Regulations on the Management of Off campus Training (for Comments) released on the website of the Ministry of Education on February 8th has directly boosted the confidence and emotions of investors.
But the awkwardness lies in the fact that there are many misunderstandings in the voices of investors, such as "the draft for soliciting opinions has been released, and off campus training is now capable".
The Opinion on Further Reducing the Homework Burden and Extracurricular Training Burden of Students in Compulsory Education stipulates that "new subject based extracurricular training institutions targeting students in compulsory education will no longer be approved in various regions." However, this provision did not appear in the draft for soliciting opinions.
In fact, the draft for soliciting opinions stipulates that the education administrative department of the State Council is responsible for regulating the scale and structure of extracurricular training nationwide, which provides a legal basis for implementing the aforementioned "double reduction" opinions.
Currently, domestic education companies listed on A-shares, Hong Kong shares, and US shares have already divested themselves of compulsory education subject based off campus training businesses. New Oriental announced on February 26th that the original compulsory education subject training has been rectified as required, converted into a non-profit entity, and separated from the listed entity.
The statement also stated that the homing plan is not aimed at soliciting opinions on the recently released "Regulations on the Management of Off campus Training". New Oriental always believes that only by governing according to law can we ensure the healthy development of the industry.
The above-mentioned investment professionals stated that the fundamental reason for the impact of the draft on the stock prices of education listed companies is that after regulatory legalization, the policy environment is more determined and friendly, and the clear and stable non disciplinary development direction brings clearer market direction.
In fact, off campus training has never been cancelled, and it is natural to say that "off campus training is allowed".
On February 18, 2024, the China Private Education Association issued a statement stating that the draft for soliciting opinions aims to promote the legal management of extracurricular training, neither "tightening" nor "loosening". For disciplinary institutions, the central government still implements the spirit of "double reduction", does not approve new institutions, and urges existing institutions to operate in accordance with the law to prevent proliferation and create educational anxiety. For non disciplinary institutions, various regions can approve new institutions in accordance with regulations, strengthen daily supervision, ensure training quality, promote reasonable pricing, and make them a beneficial supplement to school education.
"After the release of the draft for soliciting opinions, there were misunderstandings, and some self media hyped up that it was the spring of fully opening up extracurricular training, claiming that it had arrived. This not only created social anxiety, but also affected the rational solicitation of social opinions for improvement." said Xiong Bingqi, President of the 21st Century Education Research Institute.
Xiong Bingqi told 21st Century Business Herald that the main provisions of the draft for soliciting opinions are a continuation of the previous "double reduction" opinions and the regulations governing off campus training, and also further consolidate the achievements of "double reduction".