Workplace reviews and discussion: 亞樵室內裝修設計工程有限公司

1. When the boss isn’t around

2. Suitable for employees with no great ambitions in life who simply do whatever they’re told

A—Regarding the drawings

1. They’re constantly inconsistent with the actual site conditions. Changes made on site are not reflected in the drawings. The contractors hear one version from the boss, the drawings show another, and the boss tells you yet another version—three different stories in total. The boss’s only answer is: “The client makes a lot of changes.”

Only measure the site again and draw it on the plans when the project is about to be completed.

2. Changes are made directly on the printed drawings at the site and never entered into the computer. But then why are the contractors’ drawings different from the site drawings?

3. The CAD line weights and colors are—completely chaotic....

4. The reflected ceiling plan, floor plan, wiring diagram, and everything else are all crammed onto the same sheet. The different line weights are mixed together, making them nearly impossible to distinguish. Recessed lighting is shown with dashed lines, and decorative lines use the same type of line.

5. The dimensions on the floor plan and elevation may be different~~~

B—Human resources

1. The company administrator doesn’t know anything when asked about relevant matters, doesn’t know about leave requests either, and even has to be reminded before providing the calendar.

2. The company only hires people when it has projects. When there are fewer projects, they start trying to get rid of you. Of the previous three engineers, two resigned after completing their projects, and the third was fired before the Lunar New Year.

C—Communication (communication is the most important thing in this line of work)

1. Because the drawings are so chaotic, I make sure to communicate things as thoroughly as possible.

I take photos of the site + photos of the drawings (marking the location) + draw sectional views of the site.

But the person giving the answers often doesn’t answer the phone or says: “I can’t understand what you’re trying to express.”

(I’ve asked contractors and family members with no experience, and they could all understand my hand-drawn sketches.)

2. No decision-making authority over on-site work

Standard construction methods and sequences are often overturned, in favor of choosing the approach that is hardest to wrap up properly.

We discussed this once, and the boss replied: “Then you need to put yourself in the boss’s shoes and decide what would be better to do.” (So apparently you also have to guess what the boss is thinking at work.)

Sometimes they say: “Do you really need to ask about something this trivial!?”

But when things keep changing and you have no decision-making authority, how could you dare not ask??

3. They always manage to make simple things worse.

To save the NT$20 cost of cutting a light-access hole in the light-gauge steel frame, they hired a temporary laborer to use a handheld angle grinder to cut the frame within 9.5 cm, resulting in ceiling damage and a difficult finishing job.

4. They completely distrust their employees—are they afraid employees will steal the drawings??

They lack the ability and won’t listen to other people’s opinions. (That’s another little story entirely.)

D—Salary

1. You’re supposed to get annual leave after six months—yeah, right~~

After working for six months, I took one day of annual leave, but discovered when I received my paycheck that my pay had been deducted.

When I asked about it, the response was: “You have to work for a full year before you get annual leave~ Kiss kiss~”

The issue is that they didn’t tell you that you couldn’t take annual leave. They let you take it, then unilaterally changed it to personal leave, and you only discover the deduction when you receive your paycheck.

Absolutely toxic.

2. You won’t get a raise after a year either. Guess what kind of job this is.

They bring you in under the guise of hiring an employee, then kick you out once the project is complete (saving money on project costs).

The reason they give for not increasing your salary is: “Insufficient ability.” (Of course, the company gets to decide what “ability” means~)

3. They say payday is the fifth, but it has never been on time.

Then last month my pay was deducted again, even though I hadn’t taken any leave!!!

The company’s explanation was: “Oops~ We didn’t notice that it was deducted by mistake~~ Kiss kiss~”

If any of the above sounds familiar, it must be purely coincidental!!!