In recent days, Baidu has fallen into a negative public opinion crisis again, and this time it was caused by the internal public relations department of the company.

The focus of this negative public opinion is around Qu Jing, Vice President of Baidu Public Relations. Qu Jing recently opened an account in Tiktok and released several videos related to the workplace. In these videos, Qu Jing repeatedly revealed astonishing quotes, which caused a lot of controversy.

For example, when Qu Jing talked about the behavior of "prolonged standby" in the workplace, she stated that she would require employees to be on standby 24 hours a day. For example, when Qu Jing talked about an employee resigning due to emotional issues, she clearly stated that in such a situation, she would give a quick response.

She frankly stated that it is only an employment relationship with employees and there is no obligation to understand their personal situation. "Why do I consider the employee's family? I am not her mother-in-law, but my main concern is whether he can be in his position and deliver results to me in a timely manner..." She also said, "The most reasonable and optimal way of time is to work continuously for 50 days. I am ten or twenty years older than you, and I don't feel any hardship or fatigue... What qualifications do you have to tell me that your husband can't bear it and needs you to go back?"

Qu Jing's comments immediately faced numerous controversies. Those who agree say that this is the reality of the workplace, while those who disagree believe that these remarks are too indifferent, and that appropriate employee care is still necessary.

Afterwards, some media reported that Qu Jing had written the name of the company on the paper prick character due to negative reports from the South China Morning Post, and publicly beat the paper prick character in the office to vent her anger. This confusing behavior also makes everyone laugh and cry, making it difficult to believe that it is something that the top executives of a large enterprise would do in the workplace.

Qu Jing was originally intended to create a persona as a domineering female CEO, but as public opinion continued to ferment, this persona quickly overturned. Due to Qu Jing's portrayal as the Vice President of Baidu in the video, the public subsequently began to question Baidu's corporate culture. A netizen said, "In a company without even the slightest warmth, employees will never feel at home."

As is well known, Baidu's corporate image was previously overshadowed by negative news such as the Wei Zexi incident. After the rise of AI big models in the past year, Baidu has also been striving to lean towards technology enterprises. Who knew that Baidu's public relations department would have such a wave of "self explosion" operations, adding a vivid touch to Baidu's "black history".

Amidst the fermenting public opinion, Qu Jing apologized on her personal social media account late at night on May 8th.

She mentioned that before releasing the short video, she did not seek the company's opinion in advance, which does not comply with the relevant procedures and does not represent the company's position. Therefore, she clarifies and apologizes. Many inappropriate and uncomfortable aspects in the video have caused misunderstandings about the company's values and corporate culture from the outside, causing serious harm. We sincerely apologize for this.

On May 9th, it was revealed that Qu Jing had resigned from Baidu.

At present, on Baidu Baike's profile, Qu Jing's personal information has been changed and displayed as "Baidu's former vice president". In the character experience column, it shows: "From August 2021 to May 2024, Vice President of Baidu Company.".

According to Qu Jing's resume on Baidu Baike, before joining Baidu, she also served as a journalist at the Central News Interview Center of Xinhua News Agency. She joined in 2015 and served as Vice President of Huawei's Public and Government Affairs Department and Minister of China's Media Affairs Department, responsible for Huawei's domestic media affairs, external broadcasting, and crisis communication.

From the overall situation, Qu Jing's biggest mistake was being too hasty in attracting traffic and neglecting the responsibility of the public relations position, which is to avoid negative public opinion for the company. This kind of view of employees as emotionless "tools" can be your personal opinion, but it cannot be a company's external output. This move not only makes our own employees feel cold, but also leaves the four words "unfriendly" on Baidu's corporate image.

Moreover, as one of the leaders of the public relations department, Qu Jing's lack of understanding of current social public opinion is also astonishing. In the past two years, it has been common for executives to join social media accounts and create personal IPs to "sell" to companies, and there have also been many successful cases. Such as Dong Yuhui from Dongfang Selection and Lei Jun from Xiaomi. Taking Lei Jun as an example, the positive comments he often sees in his videos are approachable and unassuming. The act of Lei Jun personally opening the doors for the first batch of car owners at the Xiaomi car delivery site is an example.

In contrast, the image of "domineering female CEO" created by Qu Jing is not only aloof, but also lacks human touch, no wonder netizens dislike it. This kind of "backward" and public opinion oriented character Qu Jing is still thriving, which shows that he lacks the public opinion sensitivity required by the public relations department, and the company has not conducted any research on the public opinion environment internally, just blindly trying to become popular.

In order to cope with the negative impact of the Qu Jing incident, Baidu's senior management has also attempted to go back and make up for it, comforting internal employees.

On the afternoon of May 9, Baidu founder Robin Lee held a small staff communication meeting with Cui Shanshan, the head of human resources, to comment on Qu Jing's incident. It is understood that Robin Lee commended Baidu's outstanding employees on the spot and said: "You represent Baidu, you represent the most authentic Baidu, and you are the most authentic representative of Baidu."

Cui Shanshan also responded to the Qu Jing incident on site. She told her employees, "Please believe that there is nothing more worth guarding and adhering to than the 'simple and reliable' values on Baidu. The noise of public opinion will always pass, and our self innovation will never stop."

It is worth noting that affected by this news, Baidu Group-SW's stock price opened higher in early trading and fell rapidly, with the maximum drop of more than 2%.