Workplace reviews and discussion: 喬山健康科技股份有限公司

The company is located halfway up Dadu Mountain, offering views of the city from the headquarters building (when PM2.5 levels are not high). You can also enjoy the night view in the evening.

The company environment is clean and tidy. There are 5S competitions between departments, making your workstation look almost the same after you leave work as it does after you resign—no one would even notice if a person disappeared.

The chairman inspects the company environment every day, so work logs are also one of the key items checked. The company has ten-minute breaks at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. every day, announced by a bell. Employees must also push their chairs in and keep their seats arranged neatly. Department meetings are held every Monday, and monthly meetings are held each month; employees must stand in rows below and listen. If you want to relive your student days, this would be a good environment. Group visits are common in the company, and the chairman even leads visitors in chanting the slogan “Johnson No. 1” to boost morale.

During interviews, HR will do everything possible to downplay your professional expertise. Naturally, the ultimate goal is to lower your salary. Even more remarkably, you will not know how much you can earn until you have actually completed a full month of work.

HR will tell you that annual raises range from 3% to 5%, but “where there is a dream, there is hope.” In reality, receiving a raise of only NT$500—or no raise at all—is common. HR can nevertheless live in a parallel universe and claim that our salary levels are above the industry average, without comparing compensation according to the nature of your work or industry standards.

At work, horizontal communication between departments is practically nonexistent. It is as if each department were a soccer team doing everything possible to kick the ball away, with absolutely no intention of resolving issues properly. Only when upper management asks for information do they scramble around looking for someone to help. The operations and management unit will also do everything possible to save the company money. Where does the money come from? Of course, from employees waiting to be sacrificed. A welfare fund is deducted from your salary every month, but no one has any idea where the money goes. As for travel subsidies, if you do not join the company’s organized group, unfortunately you will not receive a single cent.

Most of the company’s machines are displayed on the fourth floor, but unfortunately they are for viewing only. The facilities employees can use are limited to a small corner on the basement level, and they are often broken and unusable. Nor should you expect employees to be able to buy products at much lower prices. At most, they offer display units without warranties for employees to purchase—and shipping and installation are not included.

The birthday gifts have also been getting worse. They went from NT$500 Carrefour gift cards to near-expiration products from the company’s health-food business group in recent years. Oh, I forgot to mention: these are also the consolation prizes at the year-end banquet. Speaking of the year-end banquet, the venue is truly worth praising: except for one year at the Splendor Hotel, it is held in the company parking lot almost every year. With a cold front and strong downslope winds, all ten dishes can become cold platters; if it rains as well, well... you will only feel even more disheartened after the meal. The performances at the year-end banquet are all opportunities for employees to entertain the executives. Aside from the CFO, who is willing to make a sacrifice, the rest require employees to play the fool in colorful costumes to amuse their superiors.

In short, this is a company that operates under the traditional-industry model while trading on the name of a multinational corporation. Behind the beautiful headquarters building are rows of corrugated-metal factory buildings.