Forget Google. I Would Rather Work for a Supermarket

Pang Dong Lai: The Ultimate Human Employer

For years, technology companies such as Google have symbolised the dream workplace: beautiful offices, generous benefits, free food and impressive salaries.

But perhaps one of the world's most interesting employers today isn't a Silicon Valley technology company.

It is a supermarket chain from Henan, China:

Pang Dong Lai (胖东来).

And what makes Pang Dong Lai extraordinary isn't free coffee or a fashionable office.

It gives employees something much harder to provide: dignity, time, trust—and a share of the wealth they create.

When You Are Unhappy, Don't Come to Work

Imagine telling your boss:

“I'm unhappy today. I need a day off.”

At many companies, that could become an uncomfortable conversation.

At Pang Dong Lai, employees can take up to 10 additional days of “unhappy leave.” Management is not supposed to reject the request.

The philosophy is startlingly human:

A person is not a machine.

Employees also reportedly work around seven hours a day and receive 40 days of annual leave under its current system.

But Pang Dong Lai goes much further.

Don't Just Say Employees Are Important. Give Them the Money.

This is where the company becomes especially interesting.

In June 2025, its 8,000-plus employees averaged around RMB9,000 a month after tax. Management and technical staff averaged around RMB700,000 annually.

More remarkably, an IMD business-school case study describes a model in which 95% of profits are distributed to employees and management.

Think about the difference.

Many companies tell employees:

“You are our greatest asset.”

Pang Dong Lai effectively says:

“If you helped create the wealth, you should participate in the wealth.”

That is human-centric management translated into economics.

But Can You Make Money Being So Nice?

This is where Pang Dong Lai destroys one of management's oldest assumptions.

Treating employees extraordinarily well has not stopped it from performing extraordinarily well.

The company reported RMB23.53 billion in 2025 revenue, up 38.7% from 2024.

An IMD case study puts 2025 revenue at about US$3.27 billion from only 14 stores, describing exceptional per-store efficiency.

Even more fascinatingly, founder Yu Donglai has deliberately constrained expansion to protect the culture and prevent employee burnout. The company has reportedly closed profitable locations rather than pursue growth at any cost.

That turns conventional capitalism on its head.

Most businesses ask:

“How much more can we get from our people?”

Pang Dong Lai seems to ask:

“How good a life can our people have while we build a successful business together?”

The Ultimate Love Intelligence Company

This is why I see Pang Dong Lai as one of the clearest corporate examples of Love Intelligence (LQ).

Care — Employees are treated as human beings with families, emotions and lives beyond work.

Courage — Management is willing to sacrifice some growth, operating hours and short-term profit rather than exhaust its people.

Connection — When employees feel respected by their company, they are far more capable of creating genuine human connections with customers.

It creates a powerful cycle:

Love Employees → Employees Love Their Work → Employees Care for Customers → Customers Trust the Company → Loyalty → Profits → Share the Wealth → Love Employees Again

This isn't charity.

It is strategy.

Perhaps Google Should Be Envious

Technology companies can provide gyms, gourmet cafeterias, stock options and spectacular campuses.

But there is something even more powerful than perks:

To know that your employer genuinely wants you to have a good life.

Pang Dong Lai challenges every CEO, HR director and manager with a simple question:

Do you want employees to love your company—or are you merely paying them to tolerate it?

And it leads to one of the most important principles of Love Intelligence in business:

Don't ask your employees to love your customers until your company learns how to love its employees.

Perhaps the workplace of the future will not be defined by technology at all.

It will be defined by humanity.

And one of the companies showing us that future isn't a technology giant.

It's a supermarket.