Workplace reviews and discussion: 銘灝國際股份有限公司

Pleasant relationships among colleagues (although they have also been leaving one after another).

1. The turnover rate is extremely high. Sales staff usually last 1–3 weeks before leaving, with the longest lasting 6 weeks (to the best of my recollection, from 2016/02/16 to 2017/03/18, at least 6 overseas sales employees, 3 quality assurance employees, 4 engineers, and 1 sales assistant resigned); there was also one person who applied for the vice president position and lasted 13 days. In total, that comes to 15 people per year.

2. On a new employee’s first day, it sometimes happens that HR asks the employee who left before the previous employee to come back and hand things over to you. This is because, after that employee left, the previous employee also resigned before you started work, and because the previous employee had not been there long enough to become familiar with the operations, the employee who left before them was asked to return and hand things over to you.

3. The office on Yangguang Street was moved to in early July 2016 and is very nicely decorated. The company has 10 seats, excluding the boss, so when company materials show that there are 15 employees, it seems potentially untrue and deceptive. (There was only one employee from mainland China, and that person also resigned in September 2016.)

4. The conference table in the meeting room is very expensive. When using it, you have to put a placemat or protective pad under your notebook; someone will be unhappy if it gets scratched.

5. After resigning, you have to return to the company the following month to collect a check for your final salary. This agreement must be signed on your first day of work, and once you sign it, even the Ministry of Labor cannot help you. Usually, you can simply ask HR for the check and arrange a time with HR yourself. Occasionally, however, you may have to schedule a time with the boss to collect the check—but isn’t that just constraining the boss’s time? Does the boss have nothing else to do? As for why, figure it out yourself!

6. The company vehicle (used by quality assurance and engineering) is a Toyota Corolla Altis over 10 years old (ninth generation, the 2000–2006 model), with at least 420,000 kilometers on it (as of the end of August 2016). It has no airbags and no traction control. The seat-height adjustment knob broke and was reported for repair, but the boss refused. The driver-side window also sometimes malfunctions. As for the dashcam, it was an old model that one colleague had at home, brought to the company, and left for coworkers to use after resigning. By comparison, the boss drives a Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake (4,300 cc).

7. Based on observation, the company’s orders basically rely on old customers and established relationships. It does not participate in trade shows and seemingly has no new customers. Essentially, the boss is the customers’ only point of contact. Since this is a trading company, applicants for the “overseas sales” position are advised to draft the e-mail and send it directly to the boss; unless you have authorization, it is best not to overstep your bounds.

8. As I write this review, a recently resigned employee (quality assurance) has received a notarized letter from the boss demanding compensation for losses from a customer complaint.

9. Applicants for the sales assistant position should ideally have a broad, sturdy build, because sometimes they have to ride a scooter to buy flowers for the boss and carry them to the boss’s home. Pay particular attention to sports-related injuries.

10. Based on freedom of the press (freedom of information), I am taking the risk of sharing this experience.