Pros: On paper, this is a fairly good company that is working hard to expand. Although salary levels are relatively low, the benefits are not bad and can be considered better than those of most companies: movie days, employee trips, travel subsidies, and so on. Its ambitions can be seen from its plans over the past few years. Its developments in the stock market are also somewhat intriguing, and interested parties can look into them. Overall, there is considerable room for growth in the future, especially overseas.

As for the drawbacks: Internal management is not nearly as polished as it appears on the surface. The company relies more on personal discretion than on systems, so newcomers will have a hard time…

Some policies are merely formalities. The lack of clear systems actually makes it difficult for employees at all levels to adapt. Since the new Labor Standards Act took effect, various strange management practices have also begun to emerge, making me personally find them baffling. For an organization that was already poorly managed, this is undoubtedly a step backward. No matter how good the benefits are, they cannot increase internal cohesion. As for whether this will affect the company’s development, I remain generally optimistic, but the impact of this issue is actually quite significant. Personally, I do not think the outlook will be optimistic even several years from now. If you do not take this point into consideration, it can basically be ignored; newcomers can simply treat it as a training ground.

The products of management based more on personal discretion than on systems:

Taking working hours alone as an example, although some colleagues generally leave work on time, there are still problems with abnormal working hours among other colleagues. This does not seem to have improved after the new Labor Standards Act regulations were passed. The proportion of people who can really leave work on time is extremely small. Most people work more than 9 hours a day, and quite a few work more than 12 hours. As for reporting overtime, it depends on the supervisor… Some supervisors use overtime pay to buy employees’ time—you cannot refuse to work overtime, while some make it clear that they will not let employees report their actual hours. Put bluntly, they hint that employees should falsify their reports, or allow reporting only under certain conditions… For example, they may only let you report compensatory leave, or may not let you report it at all. Some departments are a little more humane in their management: if overtime exceeds 4 hours, they will discuss with you whether you can report fewer hours. In principle, they hope you can make up a positive total (4, 8, or 12). Opinions on this vary; it takes two to tango.

Shift work is standard for frontline employees. However, after the new Labor Standards Act system was passed, some unusual situations emerged. In some departments, employees are required to work a full 8 hours on rest days without their consent. If you have a personal matter or are unable to work on a rest day, you still have to request leave… Supervisors claim that this is only a temporary company practice and have not said how long it will continue… I have heard that some supervisors shift the responsibility to the company’s HR department, but I have not personally verified this with HR.

Regarding training, because management is based on personal discretion, the key factor is which mentor you are assigned to. All I can say is that quite a few people do not make it to paradise… Newcomers usually grit their teeth and tough it out. This depends on each person’s learning ability, so I will not comment further here. Starting salaries are below the technology-industry average, which can be somewhat awkward for newcomers. However, this is generally negotiable, depending on your individual negotiating ability.

The issues above seem to stem from each department operating independently, and the company does not appear to have a unified standard to follow.

In summary, if the company could make its management more systematic and transparent, it would actually be a decent place to work, although it is not very generous with pay.

That’s all. If you cannot accept these conditions, then please do not come and waste your time!