Workplace reviews and discussion: 寶湧企業有限公司

Generously gives out "prize" fruit gift boxes at the three festivals.

A long read—enter with caution:

The system here is basically “no system.” The female boss often overturns what she said previously with a single sentence, and employees have to come to work according to her mood every day. When she is in a bad mood, everyone needs to stay on high alert to avoid suffering collateral damage. Also, the old woman apparently can’t sleep and sends emails to the company shortly after seven. Before employees have even arrived, they are already expected to notify her and report directly to the office. You barely even have time to sit down!!!

Every single action and every email has to be confirmed by the female boss before it can be carried out. If you send something incorrectly or use too many words, you may face unforeseen consequences. Whether something is urgent or non-urgent is entirely up to the boss—neither too slow nor too fast is acceptable; it all depends on her mood. But you must develop a good rapport with the suppliers, otherwise one sentence from a supplier will bring even more explanations and hassle. It is extremely frustrating.

Job duties: Complicated, with an enormous amount of documentation and 100% EXCEL work (there are rules for header font size, capitalization, fonts, file names, etc.—do not modify anything randomly). She personally checks every action, adjusts it herself, and then sends it out.

1) Quotation inquiry forms: The Excel sheets sent to factories are extremely detailed. Suppliers in Taiwan and mainland China have to be contacted and handled separately. After organizing everything, you still have to guess how the female boss wants to quote.

Profit sheets: Compiled based on the factory quotation sheets, and profit calculations must also be provided (including freight, customs declaration fees, exchange-rate calculations, etc.).

Quotation sheets: Compiled based on previous quotation templates. The terms are different every time, and even similar products have to be modified again.

2) Daily order processing: The PI sent to customers also has to follow the previous template. Dimensions, size, etc.—it depends on the boss’s attitude.

Purchase orders sent to suppliers also have to be modified using the previous Excel file. Do you think you only need to change the date, amount, and order number? Even if the file is extremely old, she will still check it and modify it herself once again.

3) There are an insanely large number of shipping documents. Besides the basic invoice and packing list, there are product specification reports, certificates-of-origin applications, customs declaration materials, bill-of-lading details, insurance documents, and so on—you name it. Even for telex release, thick piles of documents still have to be sent to customers. I have no idea what she was so busy with.

4) Price comparisons: A lot of the time, they are just for show, because she has already decided whom she prefers, then uses Company A to bargain with Company B.

Regarding personnel:

A certain senior employee often refuses to train new colleagues for self-protection, only saying “I don’t know.” Whether you live or die, you are on your own. She also frequently makes righteous-sounding statements (which I later discovered were disgusting).

She often rides in the boss’s car and whispers privately with her. The next day, she will repeat what the boss told her so that everyone knows, while also reporting on the company’s situation. She often acts as though she disapproves, yet periodically clings to the boss, so this senior employee is not just pretending. She is deeply afraid that new colleagues will threaten her position.

My personal impression: I often felt that all my hard work had been for nothing. Your instincts tell you what the right thing to do is, but it will simply be overturned. Even after you explain yourself, you will be criticized and made to feel that you are at fault. The workplace is very noisy because the boss loves talking on the phone and speaks very loudly. She curses Person B while talking to Person A, then discusses Person C’s affairs with Person B, giving each person a completely different version. Regarding the building’s affairs, she clearly wants to be the building committee chairperson, yet secretly manipulates the vote count. She often says how well she has done and how capable she is—it is really obnoxious.

Oh, there is also one more person worth mentioning: she strongly believes in a certain fortune-teller. Every time she interviews a new employee, she consults the fortune-teller’s opinion. Applicants’ birth details are not kept secret. She spends huge amounts of money to buy peace of mind, practices Buddhism in her own way, and believes she can cultivate spiritually just by talking without chanting sutras or being vegetarian. She loves burning spirit money; apparently she has many wronged spirits and karmic creditors. It feels as if the company is packed with unseen entities and even needs a protective ritual. I do not understand what that is, but I know it is very expensive.

She often uses money to make friends. Perhaps she lives alone and is lonely, so I often felt sorry for her. But there is always something hateful about a pitiful person. Apart from money, what else does she have? What does putting on an image of arrogance and a strong, independent woman represent? Maybe endocrine dysfunction. I am very thankful that I left that place. This was truly a brutal lesson, and I hope no one else makes the same mistake of going astray as I did.