Workplace reviews and discussion: 巨鷗科技股份有限公司

Joyo was my first job. During this period, the company grew from having only a single-digit number of employees to becoming a small and medium-sized enterprise with more than 50 people. I left due to certain personal reasons. Every company has its good and bad points; what matters is your original reason for joining the company. From writing code to training and education, as well as project planning, I may be able to objectively share my work experience and how Joyo has changed.

1. Frequent surprises and challenges

This is the most interesting part of working on client projects, because you never know what kind of project you will be assigned next. As a result, domain know-how continues to accumulate, and the types of work vary as well, making the job full of major challenges.

2. Small but fully equipped

Joyo handles a very broad range of project types and has many departments, including planning, design, marketing, development, and administration. For a small company, this is quite rare. You can collaborate with different departments and spark many different ideas.

3. Sufficient professional knowledge

The company has a strong base of expertise. Whether in project supervision and evaluation, the GIS field, or even its relationships with government agencies, it has devoted many years to conducting in-depth research. This is the company's core value, and it will not be affected by changes in the environment or industry.

4. Tolerance for mistakes

The company is not afraid of you making mistakes and allows you to learn the right direction through trying. This is quite valuable and rare at other companies.

Different people value different things. If a company is your ideal workplace, you will not care whether it complies with the Labor Standards Act or whether its other benefits are what you want. The key is whether you can achieve your own goals at the company.

Now let's talk about the company's shortcomings.

1. A baffling culture of overtime

At Joyo, overtime can no longer be described as normal; it has become pathological. It has turned into working overtime for the sake of working overtime. Managers often set illogical deadlines: a development period of one month gets compressed to two weeks or one week? Requirements are not brought up during working hours, but only mentioned right before the end of the day, with the instruction, "Send it to me before you leave." I am speechless. Is there really that much work? Who are you clocking in for when working overtime? Everyone knows the answer.

2. Project management that is terminally ill

Joyo should have one of the highest concentrations of PMP-certified professionals in Taiwan, but there is significant room for improvement in how project management operates. They occasionally use the PMI Taichung Chapter to hype themselves up, but it actually leaves one feeling extremely powerless. Responsibilities and authority are unclear, public and private matters are mixed together, requirements are never clear, features are never fully completed, and there is never enough time.

3. The boss's one-man rule

The boss and the managers only listen to what they want to hear and look at what they want to see; they cannot tolerate opposing voices. Many of the systems they have established exist merely to curry favor and flatter.

4. Disposable engineers

At Joyo, only the planners who help secure bids are considered valuable. Engineers are treated like disposable chopsticks: if one is gone, another can always be found.

5. No promotion system

Joyo only has a seniority-based system, not a promotion system. No matter how poorly a manager performs, they will always remain your manager, and no matter how hard you work, you cannot move up.