Workplace reviews and discussion: 鴻海精密工業股份有限公司

I spent a total of three years at Hon Hai: two years at PCE and one year at NWING. I don’t know what Hon Hai is like now, but when I was there, the biggest problem I saw was that its scale was inefficient. Sometimes the intentions of senior management were good, but because the organization was so large (1.3 million employees), they were difficult to implement. The organization’s huge size also meant there was a lot of internal politics (too many units with overlapping functions and too many positions occupied by people who contributed little).

For a manufacturing company, being able to use volume to propel Taiwan to first place in the world is truly impressive. Of course, everyone knows that whether this actually contributes to Taiwan’s GDP is another matter, but this kind of environment is not very suitable for young people. To rise to the level you have in mind, you might spend your entire life and still not necessarily get there.

If you are under thirty, I recommend working at a small or medium-sized enterprise until you become a manager before considering Hon Hai...