Workplace reviews and discussion: 建瑋玩具工業股份有限公司

I worked on an online production line.

The company’s colleagues were all easy to get along with, and everyone helped each other resolve problems.

The environment was good, working hours were normal, and overtime was paid at the overtime rate.

The company provided meals, with a one-hour lunch break at noon.

The company provided standard labor and health insurance. The year-end bonus was considered medium to high within the industry (for production workers at general small and medium-sized enterprises).

Basically, the systems and policies provided by the company were all very good.

Basically, the company’s systems and policies were good, and the colleagues were good. The problems came from the supervisors.

The supervisors often tried to shift responsibility.

For example, when a small component had a problem and the production-line worker failed to notice it before production continued (there might have been burrs, deformation, or other problems that could not normally be identified with the naked eye), a series of subsequent problems could occur, causing the finished products to have defects or be unusable. At that point, the company’s senior management would first blame the production workers, but they never considered why the quality-control personnel failed to notice the problem with the component and still sent the materials to the production line. What’s more, these were tiny, subtle problems that we had no way of detecting.

Alternatively, when materials were in short supply and we reported it to our supervisors, the supervisors would first harshly scold us, asking why we had not reported the shortage in advance. Then, the next time we noticed that materials seemed to be running short and reported it in advance, we would still be scolded and told to report it after finishing the work. They kept contradicting themselves like this.

Or, when all the work procedures had clearly been carried out according to the drawings but there were still problems, the supervisors would first blame the production workers for doing a poor job and say that their pay should be deducted (although in fact no pay was deducted, I don’t know whether it was reflected in performance evaluations). Then they would use harsh language, including profanity, to scold us. In reality, the problem had nothing to do with us; it was caused by the design department or by an issue with the drafting procedures. Production-line workers were often the ones who got scolded first.

This company treated female employees like male employees and often required women to do heavy lifting. Many people suffered physical injuries as a result.

There were also often many problems with shipping. If a supplier needed to inspect the goods, a customer needed a shipment, or the goods had to be loaded into a container, the deadlines were always extremely tight. However, it usually took one or two weeks to go from a small component to a finished product. The sales department often accepted rush orders, while production workers left one after another and the company did not hire replacements. We originally joked that one person had to do the work of two; now one person has to do the work of several.

In short, this company was basically good. The problem was that everything stemmed from the supervisors. However, reporting issues to senior management was useless because this was a family-owned business, and virtually all the supervisors were family members or insiders. Even if we reported them to senior management, at most they would receive a scolding and behave better for a month or two, after which everything would return to normal. The people who could stay at this company were basically long-term employees, with at least ten years of experience, or at least eight or nine years (for production-line workers). So, if you can put up with the supervisors’ various unreasonable behaviors, I basically think this company is acceptable.