Workplace reviews and discussion: 藝銘實業有限公司

The interview was very simple. At the time, the general manager called me on my mobile phone from mainland China, and then I went to the Taipei office, where I was interviewed by an R&D manager in his early thirties. I passed very easily.

This is a family-owned business. It started out doing metal surface treatment (anodizing and electroplating), and later expanded into departments for stamping, forging, insert molding, and so on. Many people there are relatives of those at the top. The general manager also favors mainland Chinese employees and discriminates against Taiwanese employees. The company is sales-driven. The export sales team is headed by a mainland Chinese female manager whose English is poor. Her English name is very strange: “11.” She does not know much and is extremely domineering; even long-serving Taiwanese employees are often harshly berated by her. The mainland Chinese female sales staff under her follow her example, and Taiwanese employees are treated like servants.

After joining this company, you will notice a very interesting phenomenon: there is a severe gap in the Taiwanese staff, and the company can hardly retain anyone. Either they have connections and have worked there for many years, or they have only been there for a few months—or even less than a year.

After you join, once you reach your first full month of work or when the end of the month arrives, you should be careful. They usually choose these times to get rid of people (they simply tell you to leave, with no transition period at all).