Workplace reviews and discussion: 不來梅股份有限公司

For some work-related decisions, there is slightly more freedom here compared with 4A advertising agencies.

There is a system for applying for overtime pay.

First, even before joining this company,

1111 already listed conditions that contradicted the facts.

Under item 3 of the benefits and policies: employee proposal bonuses,

I never saw anyone receive this type of bonus during my time here.

Under item 4: comprehensive training.

There is training, but not every job category receives relevant professional training.

If you are attracted by some of these conditions, please think it over carefully.

Work experience:

Not long after I joined, someone at the company was laid off.

At the time, I thought the company's performance evaluations must be extremely strict, and that anyone with poor performance would be asked to leave.

After that, several other colleagues left one after another. This kind of turnover

is actually quite common in the advertising industry, so I did not pay much attention to it at the time.

Only later did I realize that leaving early had been the right decision; I will return to this point at the end.

Over the past year, this company's policies and guidelines have changed somewhat, and some of these changes may affect employees' rights.

I would like to share with everyone what I know, along with information relayed to me by colleagues from other departments.

I. Company-wide:

Starting in 2018, employees under the age of 30 were required to participate in advertising award competitions.

Their performance during the competition also had to be included in their annual evaluation.

Participating in competitions is originally a good opportunity for self-expression and recognition,

but once participation became mandatory, many newcomers at the company found it very stressful.

They could barely finish their regular work, yet had to participate in competitions on top of working overtime.

Although I did not have to participate, the managers—also over the age of 30—

did not know how to allocate work to their subordinates.

It was not enough simply to complete something hastily just to hand it in, because it would be included in the evaluation.

The competitions also lasted a long time, so this issue would trouble new employees for quite a while.

II. Account Service Department:

In 2018, performance bonuses were changed to annual payments.

Because the annual targets had not been met in the previous few years,

quarterly bonuses were changed so that they would be paid proportionally only if the annual target was achieved.

This meant that, previously, everyone might work overtime for a while during the busy season

and have a chance to receive a quarterly bonus. Under the new system,

with the advertising industry being attacked by social media and performance declining year after year,

even those who managed to receive an annual bonus would get less than they would have received quarterly.

This would be a major blow to the account service staff.

Another problem faced by colleagues in the account service department is that some creative staff shift responsibility, block work, or refuse revisions,

or tell you how to do account service: if an idea cannot be sold, it is because you do not know how to sell it.

III. Creative Department:

Many interesting ideas are rejected by senior management

before they even reach the client. I have talked with colleagues in the creative department,

and I am not the only one who has encountered this situation. Although this place is less restrictive than a 4A advertising agency,

there is actually not much room to put your abilities into practice.

The company cares more about confidentiality clauses with clients than it does about its employees.

I think this is another reason why many people have been disappointed with the company.

The company once had a case taken down, and several employees posted their thoughts on social media,

describing their frustration and the lessons they had learned.

Unexpectedly, the next day the general manager angrily berated everyone in the company-wide group chat,

saying that everyone had violated the confidentiality clause. No one dared to respond at the time.

The general manager immediately asked whether everyone was pretending to be dead. Apart from me,

many people took screenshots. This is how the company handles crises:

putting out the fire is more important than employees' minor emotional reactions.

IV. Media Department:

The media department of this company

is actually registered under another name.

Its full name is “奇異之旅媒體股份有限公司” (Strange Journey Media Co., Ltd.).

Basically, all of its members are newcomers,

and they have to learn the media-related work themselves.

The department's mid-level and senior managers also have no media backgrounds.

They were simply transferred from Bremen, so they are unable to provide comprehensive training either.

V. Digital Interactive Department:

This department is registered under yet another name:

“梅林斯行銷有限公司” (Merlins Marketing Co., Ltd.).

I am not familiar with this department's work,

but I do know that it is difficult to work with. If you plan to work at Bremen,

this is another minor issue to consider.

Of course, people in the creative department occasionally want to use more interesting proposals for marketing,

and then need to rely on this department's capabilities and assistance.

However, we usually experience an unfriendly attitude from the department,

as if we had proposed something completely absurd. People in the creative department do not actually understand this field very well,

but whenever we discuss collaboration, our proposals are rejected because of feasibility, budget, and other conditions.

We have also never seen people from that department propose assistance or new solutions to win the client's approval.

It makes us feel as though we are very foolish, even though we work in the same space.

VI. Miscellaneous

1. New employees receive extremely poor compensation—lower than that offered by some 4A advertising agencies.

2. There is a three-month probationary period, and NT$3,000 is initially deducted from the salary during the probation period.

Furthermore, during 2016–2018, as far as I know, five or six people failed to pass probation.

Three months is simply too short; some people left before others even knew that they had joined the company.

3. Some engineers disturb people in other departments during working hours, or spend the entire day away from their desks handling personal matters.

This is very unfair to those who work seriously.

4. There is a cap on the number of overtime hours for which overtime pay can be claimed. Once the limit is exceeded, no further claims can be submitted.

5. Promotion opportunities are not actually as smooth as described on 1111, nor are they necessarily related to seniority or ability.

They depend on the company's budget and staffing gaps. If there is no vacant position, no one will be promoted.

Even when there is a vacancy, a promotion is not guaranteed, because it may mean having to hire another new employee. Advancement is not necessarily smooth.

6. A raise is not guaranteed every year.

7. Just as people are about to start working overtime, the company's senior managers' children come to the office and disrupt work.

8. Overtime from 19:00 to 20:00 is not paid because the policy requires you to go eat dinner. Sometimes you simply want to finish what you are working on before eating, but this results in a considerable loss over time. The freedom to submit overtime-pay claims is also not guaranteed.

That is everything I can recall.

Returning to what I said at the beginning, I genuinely feel lucky that I left. In 2019, this year, the company laid off employees again.

I even wonder whether, if I had stayed, I would have had to worry every day about whether I would lose my job.

Everyone would have to work in fear.

Strangely, the employees who were laid off previously actually went on to do quite well,

and did not seem like people with poor work performance. What exactly happened at the time?

Could it be that layoffs were not necessarily related to performance reviews or evaluations, but instead to political factors and budget considerations?

What I have written here only covers 2016–2018, along with some news from the beginning of this year.

At this stage, I would not recommend working for this company, although the shortcomings mentioned above may eventually be improved.

I sincerely hope that newcomers and graduates who want to work at this company will think it over carefully.