Workplace reviews and discussion: 宏華國際股份有限公司

1. Retail channel. The business volume itself is 3–5 times that of competitors, yet the company hires just as few employees (an average of 150 customers per day, but only three or even two people are scheduled to work. Service satisfaction then goes to hell—selling a phone together with a contract takes at least 20 minutes to an hour). Later, after hiring a department head from another industry who does not understand the workload, you are made to do even more. Reporting all day can easily consume another hour. This leads to long-term overtime (unlike factory workers, there is no off-season; if they do not hire more staff, it is always peak season), and your quality of life will suffer. On top of that, they now only hire people who can get up to speed within a week, so the workload is so heavy that people often leave after only two weeks (some are even dismissed for being unsuitable, and supervisors will ask whether you are fit for the job—bordering on illegal). The company has a prestigious name, but the rewards are worthless; bonuses are already less than half of what they used to be. Unless you are truly looking to work off some bad karma, retail is not suitable as a long-term job (you should leave after six months, unless you do not want a family). Average monthly salary: NT$31,000–34,000.

2. Customer service channel. You might start work at 10:00 today, 11:00 tomorrow, 10:30 the day after, and 07:00 the next day; there may even be only a five-minute difference. Your schedule can be different every day, and constantly adjusting your biological clock is harmful to your health (a permanent night shift would actually be more consistent). The call volume is enormous: answering 100 calls a day is average, and the key point is that there really are that many people calling! If you do not reach that volume, you may be called in for a meeting. Customers can be difficult enough, but you may also be criticized for taking too long because you are providing good service. In short, they trick customers into going to retail stores to shorten their own handling time, leaving retail staff expected to be capable of everything. Put bluntly, it is a highly technical way of passing work off to others. Average monthly salary: NT$28,000–33,000.

3. Customer network installation unit. Long-term employees will give you the difficult jobs. Outside the Taipei–New Taipei area, the likelihood of having to climb utility poles is extremely high and quite dangerous. The jobs are basically possible to finish, but because all the difficult orders are assigned to subsidiaries, you are left with unfinished work and have to work overtime. The supervisors are generally long-time employees of Chunghwa Telecom; they talk a lot, but are actually quite supportive. Another major problem is that users may ask you to replace exposed wiring with concealed conduits, even though you do not have the technology or equipment to do so. Base salary is roughly NT$29,000–35,000.

In summary, although there is a service-satisfaction metric, the chances of receiving a poor rating are extremely high because you cannot give customers anything. And because this is a subsidiary, management above you will not listen to your explanations; you have to keep writing reports (the responsibility is written down, and there is definitely no time during work). Eventually, you will change careers, and your seniority will reset to zero.