Ex-wife, Please Come Back novel Chapter 270

One of the elder directors stood up and his eyes darted towards all the angry faces in the room.

"We're already so old, but we still have to come to the company to clock in? Isn't that too much?" His gaze finally landed on Jacob. The man looked like he could already pass up as the boy's uncle.

After finishing his words, murmurs of agreement echoed throughout the room as the others nodded their heads simultaneously. Since the meeting started to discuss issues that would affect their own interests, they naturally did not underestimate it.

It was a difficult negotiation and both sides were almost evenly matched. Changing the whole rules in such a short amount of time would be impossible. However, the directors couldn't remain as comfortable and free as before as well.

"According to the national rule, one can retire at the age of sixty. Some of you are already about to reach the retirement age. Regarding this case, why don't we make a compromise? Those who have reached fifty eight years old will not need to clock in and they can work at home. The rest must come to the company and clock in. How about that?"

Jacob placed his hands in front of him, acting as if he was considering everyone when he made the suggestion.

Almost everyone wore a frown on their faces. There were only a few people in the room who had reached that age. Obviously, the rest still needed to clock in.

"So, is there anyone who's going to question the CEO's decision?" With a serious look on his face, James glanced at all the people present. It was now impossible for Jacob to back down since he had already made a compromise.

The board members only looked at one another, their eyes filled with hatred met in silence before lowering their heads. Although Jacob also acted cold and ruthless in the past, he still allowed room for argument. This time was different. He was stricter now, and there was no room left for others to voice out their opinions.

Not that one of them had dared to say anything. Everyone was too afraid that Jacob would reprimand them.

"Since there is no objection, let's talk about other rules next." James nodded towards Jacob.

Everything was so far all going according to plan.

It looked like the color had drained out of everyone's faces. After all, the first rule had already taken away part of their freedom. More rules would mean more suffering.

"If the director will not be able to achieve their goals in performance, their salary will be reduced by half in the second year. This applied to the employees as well. Everyone will be paid not based on the amount of hours but on the quality of their work. Those who will work harder will earn more. I understand that it will be difficult to make a distinction between the different jobs, which is why we will be taking these facts into consideration,"

James continued to say. He gave Jacob a glance. It wasn't him who originally thought about this rule but his nephew. He couldn't help but admire the proposed idea. It could actually motivate a lot of the employees to work harder.

"What? This is too much! What if none of us were able to achieve the goal? If we will not be able to get what we want and deserve, who will still be left willing to work?" a young man exclaimed.

James squinted his eyes at the board in front him. They were all too noisy and full of complaints.

"That's right. Isn't it too subjective to distribute the money according to work? How can we know that we have done enough work and how should the salary be distributed? How will you be able to clarify this?"

"I agree. It's not easy to distribute the salaries equally. If it will be difficult to calculate, then it will be even more difficult to implement it. No one has a single standard, therefore this is unreliable."

"State owned enterprises are the ones practicing this. Why are we doing this too?"

"This idea isn't reasonable. This will only seriously frustrate everyone. We shouldn't take such a measure!"

"Yes, you are right! It will be bad if all of us will lose our motivation to work. We'll just end up being worried over these rules all day long that we will not be able to work properly in the future."

As the members of the board voiced out their opinions one by one, the assistant couldn't help but frown. These people in front of her were protesting when they clearly earned money without even having to work. All they wanted was easy money. This was the main reason that it was very necessary to enforce such a rule.

Jacob wore a stoic look on his face. He had already expected them to react like this as soon as the terms were put forward. Still, his decision remains the same. There was nothing left to say at the moment.

"Alright. I knew that most of you wouldn't agree which is why we can lower the standard for now. I will be the one setting the minimum. What we'll do is we are going to choose the average performance in your department during the previous years. This can go down by 5%. If you will not be able to achieve that, then your salary will be reduced by half."

Jacob narrowed his eyes at everyone. The trick was not to show his trump card, lest anyone would still dare to bargain. If the highest requirements were laid out from the beginning, then everyone would end up being satisfied with the final result.

The atmosphere inside the room was tense. He could see everyone's dissatisfaction even if all of them remained silent.

Furrowed eyebrows and pursed lips, obviously everyone wasn't happy about the decision of their CEO. Even though there was clear hatred towards Jacob, he didn't care at all. The company was more important. As long as it would be for the greater good, then everything would be worth it.

"Well, then. No one had any objection to the CEO's words, right? He is very kind that he always considers all of you every time. If our directors had always prioritized the company's best interests, then these rules wouldn't have been made in the first place. However, it's unfortunate that none of you really cared about the company. This is the reason that all of you needed to be reminded."

A huge sigh then escaped from James's lips. Things wouldn't have been this difficult for everyone if there were other ways. Right now, the company was facing a critical moment. If they didn't take such measures, it was possible that it would collapse.

It still wasn't too late to fix things. This was the best long-term solution, yet no one from the directors present in the room had seemed to take it seriously.

"All right.

Since everyone has no objection to the previous two rules... For the third, you must draw ten percent of your bonus every year to invest in the company again to acquire a compound interest."

"What? Why is the company so short in funds now? Do you have to get such small amount from us directors?" The man was shocked at the piece of news that he immediately sat upright with eyes wide open. It seemed like Jacob was trying to take away what originally belonged to them.

If that was the case, it would be better not to give it to them directly.

"We have to rely on that bonus to support our family every year. As the prices of market goods go up every year, it doesn't make a difference even if the bonus is increased as well. Now, you're taking part of it away from us. Are you trying to make us broke?"

"Yes! It's not easy for us to raise a family. Although we have a place to live, we can't live in a small house forever. I'm already tired of it. For me to be able to move to a bigger house, I will have to save up the bonus for several years."

"I agree! You absolutely cannot deduct our bonus. All of us are counting on it to be able to get through with our living expenses. Are you going to kill us?"

"Look at my clothes. I haven't even changed these for seven or eight years! Do you think that I didn't want to change it? It's not easy for me to earn for a living. Now, you're making it even harder. Do you still want me to have a life?"

As the group of people continued to protest, they soon realized that Jacob didn't summon them for a board meeting. Instead, he summoned them for some punishment. The purpose of the meeting was to make them earn less and work more.

Angry murmurs soon filled the room as the atmosphere continued to grow tense. If things continued going down like this, someone would probably slap the table and get angry. In the end, no one still had the courage to do so. Everyone held their breath and waited for Jacob to give in.

"I can understand your feelings, but you shouldn't get so excited. You should know that no matter which company you work for, these are what you should do. This is why there is no reason for you to feel wronged."