Workplace reviews and discussion: 威技電器股份有限公司

Position: Overseas Sales Representative (Japanese)

I was the previous Japanese-speaking sales representative who was laid off. I’ll share some experiences for everyone’s reference. Feel free to ask questions, but please no purely complaining or smearing the company.

1. The factory staff, from the technical team to the production line, are all very enthusiastic. They patiently explained and taught me, even though I came from a liberal arts background and knew nothing, and they also patiently accommodated unreasonable customer demands. I myself am very interested in mechanisms and compressors and really wanted to continue working there, but unfortunately I was still laid off.

2. In Taiwan, overtime is paid. Just clock in and out, and no additional procedures are required.

3. The company decisively lays off unsuitable employees instead of pressuring them to leave.

4. The company has plenty of money, and the work is demanding. Those proficient in Japanese should negotiate a salary of at least NT$45,000; if you are proficient in both English and Japanese, you should definitely negotiate at least NT$50,000. Don’t shortchange yourself. The sales department is suitable for married women over 40 who are familiar with traditional extended-family culture. The company has plenty of money, so be bold when negotiating your salary.

1. For the past 30-plus years, the company has made money mainly from European and American customers. The company still isn’t very clear about how to position this Japanese-speaking role, and no one in the company understands Japanese, so you must be highly capable of working independently.

2. The sales department consists entirely of women over 40, so the workplace culture inevitably includes a lot of gossip and petty talk (I wasn’t interested and couldn’t join in). However, this gossip somehow led to some strange decisions, and even when I seriously tried to ask a question, I couldn’t get any constructive answers.

The administration department is likewise made up entirely of women over 40, and the boss’s family members work there. From my very first day, the people there wouldn’t even look me in the eye or speak to me properly. When I asked questions, I didn’t get any direct answers; their attitude was basically that the sales department would tell me, or that someone would explain it to me anyway.

3. The boss’s wife doesn’t understand Japanese and believes whatever the agent says. Although I worked hard to perform well, I ended up being reprimanded by her in front of a customer. The boss’s wife likes to reprimand her own employees in front of customers to demonstrate her authority, but then turns around and blames the sales staff for not knowing how to refuse unreasonable customer demands.

4. You have to work on holidays, work on holidays, work on holidays!!!!! There is no overtime pay. During business trips to China, I was busy until 11 p.m. every day, and there was no overtime pay either.

5. High turnover. I worked for three months, and my predecessor didn’t even last six months... People who understand Japanese can’t stay; the sales staff in the company all speak English.