The Mech Touch novel Chapter 998

At the end of the work day, Chief Nyquist finally left their company. Ves hadn’t seen anything of note, but the observations he made earlier gave him plenty of ammunition as long as he submitted his report fast enough.

As Ves was ready to return to base, he turned to Jeff for one more question. "Say, if Mr. Stoddard advances to Journeyman one day, will he still decide to work under Kadar and Neyvis? What stops him from parting ways with his employers and start his own business?"

"Oh, the KNG already signed an MTA-enforced contract with Mr. Stoddard that offers several options in the event of his advancement." The relations manager answered. "It is a very standard contract in the mech industry. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it yet. Many major mech manufacturers attract design talents with these contracts."

"What do these contracts entail?"

"Upon event of the advancement of a mech designer to Journeyman, they receive at least two options. The first option would be to continue to work for the company. Newly-advanced Journeyman not only receive better treatment to fit their new status, they are also offered a certain amount of shares, usually ten percent or more depending on their commitment."

"Ah, I have heard of those kinds of arrangements, just not as concrete." Ves replied. A favorable advancement contract like this used to be so far away from him that he never looked into it. "Ten percent sounds kind of small though."

"That is just the standard minimum convention in the industry. Both the mech designer and the company can negotiate a different proportion of shares if they like. Also, it is very fair considering that a newly-advanced Journeyman has taken none of the risks and contributed very little in the startup, growth and maturation of the mech company. Every new Journeyman starts with around ten percent shares, and slowly builds up as they contribute more in the company."

"They are being paid in shares?"

"Yes." Jeff nodded. "A newly advanced Journeymen is not that much better than an Apprentice, but after a decade or so of seasoning they would usually be able to match the prowess of an older generation Journeyman. It is fair to remunerate them with a greater stake in the company they increasingly help build up. This is also a good way to keep a promising Journeyman committed to the company. In some cases, the older Journeyman relinquishes more shares to the younger Journeyman in order to provide the company with continuity."

That sounded like a very far-sighted arrangement to Ves. "The younger Journeyman essentially inherits the company from his former boss when the latter dies or retires."

The pivotal role of Journeyman Mech Designers meant that they wouldn’t be resigned to work for just salary when working at a company being led by an older Journeyman.

At the very least, working for a Senior Mech Designer allowed them to enjoy the tutelage of a superior in the profession, but working for another Journeyman yielded very little benefits to someone of the same rank.

Therefore, offering these talented and independently capable mech designers a stake in the company was essential to retain these talents!

A mech company headed by one or two Journeyman like the KNG owed all of their success to them. This worked fine when Kadar and Neyvis still had at least half a century or more time to lead their company.

Yet what happened after they became too old to work? The KNG would stagnate and decline until it eventually collapsed after it failed to design new mechs that equalled their older products.

Therefore, continuity became a very serious issue to mech companies highly dependent on a small number of mech designers for success.

As Jeff explained, it was no use for the founders and owners of a thriving mech company to hold fifty percent of its shares when the value of that company eventually dropped down to zero!

Therefore, instances where the first-generation mech designers slowly sold or rewarded their shares to a promising second-generation mech designer happened frequently. The older mech designers only kept enough shares in the company for their own heirs to live on, but not much more than that!

Of course, it would be best if the second-generation mech designer was part of the same family as the first-generation mech designer! Yet the odds weren’t optimistic, as very few mech designers ever advanced to Journeyman to begin with. Therefore, it did not surprise Ves that Kadar and Neyvis treated Stoddard favorable to the point of eyeing him as a possible heir to lead the KNG in the future.

Still, most mech companies failed to provide for continuity. Ves heard of many successful mech companies shuttering their doors because their lead designers died but failed to attract a successor.

"What is the other option that Stoddard can pick if he rejects the offer of a stake in the company?"

"Oh, he is still free to found his own company or work for someone else. It is just that in the event of setting up a company, he’s obliged to offer at least ten percent of its shares or more to the KNG. Our company did spend a lot of time and effort on nurturing him to become a Journeyman. It is only fair for him to pay something back. If he works for something else, he’ll have to hand over twenty percent to fifty percent of his earnings, depending on a complex formula. It’s mainly heftier in order to compensate for the fact that he might work for a potential competitor."

All in all, these kinds of contracts all aimed to have the younger mech designer pay something back to the older one. To be honest, Ves didn’t find them very favorable to the younger mech designers, but if they didn’t sign them the company would focus their efforts on nurturing a more pliable young talent instead!

These considerations only applied to mech companies led by Journeyman or higher. Companies led by Apprentices and lower like the LMC didn’t merit such considerations. So many companies at this level already existed that they constantly rose and fell by the hundreds each year.

Finding a replacement mech designer to take over for the older one was also a lot more trivial because so many Apprentices would jump at the opportunity to take over the helm of an established mech company!

"Is Stoddard the most promising mech designer at the KNG?"

"Oh, who can predict if an Apprentice can grow to a Journeyman?" Jeff replied sheepishly. "You know better than me how difficult it is to take that leap. The KNG employs many Apprentices, and we’ve put three more colleagues of Mr. Stoddard in charge of the other manufacturing complexes."