Workplace reviews and discussion: 樂購蝦皮有限公司

Unlimited snacks and drinks, fruit days, occasional activities of all sizes, lots of cute girls, and they’re willing to pay whatever salary you dare to ask for.

If you latch onto the right people, you can sleep well every day and keep your wallet nicely full.

About all that, here are the stories I collected from Shopee...

A startup company with no company policies whatsoever. When you first join, HR gives you five sheets of A4 paper: three are employment documents, and two explain how to operate, use, and set up your computer equipment. There are no organizational bylaws, no management system, and no explanations of any rules or restrictions. All the workplace rules are only briefly covered by HR on your first day (and some HR representatives do not even mention them). On the surface, it seems great! The company is so free! In reality, you cannot even tell whether your position is supposed to be that of a specialist or an assistant!

One colleague ended up in this situation: people in the same department did completely different work, and although their positions were parallel, this colleague was inexplicably treated directly as an assistant. They could not even finish their own work, yet they were forced to work overtime—and received no overtime pay—while watching the person ordering them around leave work on time to go on dates. That colleague once sought help from HR, but the HR representative said there was nothing they could do. In the end, that colleague could only leave.

Of course, HR often has to organize all kinds of activities, big and small, and I often see them working until midnight. It is genuinely hard work, and the events are meant to entertain everyone, but I still hope HR can pay more attention to the working conditions of their colleagues instead of only focusing on organizing events for the student association～

I have heard about a peculiar person who leaves work at exactly 8 p.m. every day. Even when there is nothing to do, they insist on leaving at 8. Do you think they are diligent and devoted to the company? No—they are only putting on a show for their supervisor. It is unbelievably unfair: this person has no work ability whatsoever, got into the company through connections, and spends overtime watching sports games, yet is inexplicably the supervisor’s favorite and most highly promoted employee—a team lead.

I also heard about a very capable colleague in another category. When the company was short-staffed, she took on the work for the entire category by herself, handling four product categories alone. She was hardworking and useful, and was treated completely like a slave. Later, she no longer wanted to be treated like one, so she spoke up for herself and hoped to improve her working conditions. Instead, she was treated like a bad child who was just causing trouble. In the end, she could not hold on any longer and had to use going abroad as an excuse to submit her resignation.

Now, let’s talk about the supervisors—the miracles of the e-commerce goddess. Several earlier posts have mentioned them, and there is absolutely no exaggeration, because I was once inexplicably dragged in and reprimanded too. I am really not making this up. As an aside, there used to be several extremely domineering colleagues in the goddess’s department. They could control everything and do whatever they wanted, while everyone else could only cooperate and was not allowed to have any opinions. When they wanted something, we had to provide it immediately; when we followed up on progress, they ignored us. Each one had a more arrogant attitude than the last. If something did not suit their wishes, they would complain to the goddess. Absolutely outrageous!

Next, there was an older supervisor who looked very kind, but had some very unusual ideas! According to colleagues in that department, she went around bringing in people she had worked with in the past to occupy positions. She even had her own people in departments belonging to other categories. As for why she did this—well, do not ask me. I absolutely have no idea!

However, more than 60% of the people she brought in were controversial figures in other parts of the e-commerce industry. The godsons and goddaughters she brought along received excellent treatment, and their salaries and positions were guaranteed to rise rapidly. As for everyone who was not one of her godchildren, some resigned and others struggled on.

As for the junior supervisors, many of them were genuinely far too young. They had little work ability, yet spoke in an arrogant and haughty manner. One colleague said that their junior supervisor had three student workers serving as assistants and still found that insufficient: everyone in the department was his assistant. He also refused to let the student workers help with anything else within the department; they could only work for him, and anyone else who used them would be scolded. Extremely domineering!

There are many more stories, but I cannot be bothered to tell them...

Actually, these things could happen at any company, and there may be even more outrageous examples. But Shopee is a startup company—doesn’t that, by definition, mean breaking away from traditional office culture and building a good working environment?

Now this place is practically a hodgepodge gathering place for the entire e-commerce industry. Shopee has no system or philosophy of its own; it poaches people from competitors while also bringing over their bad workplace culture and habits. On the surface, it is a startup company, but in reality, it is unbelievably bureaucratic!

Still, there are plenty of good colleagues and good supervisors. Newcomers can only rely on luck!

Shopee in the past was really great...