Workplace reviews and discussion: 凱創實業股份有限公司

The company location is great, right by the riverbank, so you can take a walk and clear your mind when work gets stressful.

I was let go after only three weeks because of “organizational restructuring.” Here’s what happened.

Because I had experience with online e-commerce, I was hired to work on “in-house e-commerce planning,” helping the company set up an e-commerce website and handling ad placements (although none of it was ultimately used because I was fired＝＝). During the preparation period, I often scheduled discussions with some partner vendors. I wanted to do everything as thoroughly as possible, so I used the opportunity to clarify as many technical issues as I could. But what surprised me was that the department manager didn’t understand the relevant technology, let alone online marketing. He could never say anything substantive in meetings, and the questions he asked were extremely stupid. Every time, I wanted to tell him to shut up, but he kept embarrassing himself, leaving me speechless. After meetings, he would often sulk because he felt humiliated—so childish it was damn ridiculous.

Later, in order to “keep up with the times,” the company established a confidentiality clause. One provision stated: “All creations produced by Party B during the period of employment shall belong to Party A.” If any related regulations were violated, “Party B shall compensate Party A 50 times Party B’s highest monthly salary during employment.” This clause was obviously problematic. First, it should not cover “all creations,” but only creations related to the business. Second, the compensation should be calculated based on Party A’s losses, not on salary.

Anyone with a bit of common sense could see that, under this calculation method, lower-level employees’ employment rights would be outrageously compromised. With little salary and savings, paying compensation equal to fifty times one’s salary would completely destroy a person’s life.

I raised my objections with the manager, but he only told me, “Everyone in the company does it this way, so just cooperate.” After I explained what I thought was unreasonable, he only said, “If you’re not going to leak secrets, why do you care how much you’d have to pay?”

The final straw that led to my dismissal was my refusal to cooperate with the department’s falsification.

Yes, falsification.

One day at work, the manager, whose surname was Huang, told me that I had to buy a mosquito lamp the following week. I thought, WTF, but only asked why.

He said it was just departments cooperating with each other, that “everyone does it.” After buying it, I was supposed to return it at the “designated time.” I don’t know whether they were trying to inflate fake sales figures for the big boss or what, but in any case, it was hardly an aboveboard practice.

I said at the time that doing this made me very uncomfortable. He actually threatened me, saying he would tell all the department heads that I was refusing to cooperate. I had a thousand WTFs in my head, but believing that keeping the peace brings prosperity, I just smiled and said, “Sure, go ahead.” As expected, the guy hadn’t anticipated that his threat would be ineffective and stood there stunned, his mind tying itself in knots. Then he turned around and muttered, “Fine, fine, I’ll tell them right now.”

Two days later, I was fired.

I think this may have been the manager’s problem (by the way, his surname is Huang and his given name contains the character “Hui”), but he had a very good relationship with the boss, and the boss certainly knew about the decision to fire me. I think that says everything about what a traditional, exploitative, underhanded company this is.

If you have no great ambitions and just want to muddle through life, and your greatest wish is to pass the civil service examination, this company is a good fit. You only need to handle routine tasks and do whatever your manager says, like a child or a robotic dog. I’m not judging your life choices; it’s just that many people will look down on you.

If you’re not the kind of person who can accept being looked down on by many people, you’d better skip this company and not even go to the interview.