Workplace reviews and discussion: 維樂工業股份有限公司

The boss is a kind old lady in her seventies, with lower scleral show in her eyes like the Ten Most-Wanted Criminals. I interviewed on a Saturday. She asked about my experience and got to know a little about my family background. Then she started talking about how her daughter would take over the business. When she got excited, she immediately started chain-smoking to add to the fun, casually treating me like a tea-smoked goose.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck her: she remembered that I was there for an interview, so she immediately quoted me a salary, adding, “Young people these days all make 22K. The salary I’m offering means I think highly of you and am investing in talent for the company.” “Besides, you don’t have experience in the relevant industry, so this salary is very good. Your father can’t earn much money, but if you follow me, I definitely won’t treat you unfairly.”

All right, since the boss valued me so highly, I accepted. Do you think that was the end of it? Don’t underestimate this kind old lady with lower scleral show. Before my first paycheck, the boss called me into the office and said, “Because you don’t have relevant experience, I have to cut your salary by 10,000.”

What? Hadn’t we already agreed on the salary at the beginning? She knew at the time that I had no relevant experience!

Boss: “I had to quote a little higher at first, otherwise you wouldn’t have come. It was only after you joined that I knew how much to pay you.”

This kind old lady with lower scleral show really wasn’t innocent. I later found out that everyone she interviewed and hired had their salary cut before receiving their first paycheck; some weren’t even notified. The other managers even comforted me: the boss had at least told me she was cutting my salary, which meant she really valued me.

Hearing all this, I was so moved that I was speechless. The boss has been cutting people’s salaries for 40 years; she simply can’t control herself anymore—just like aunties by the roadside who love haggling for random discounts.

- The salary quoted during the interview should be reduced by another 10,000, because before your first paycheck, you’ll be called into the office and have your salary cut.

- Clock in when you arrive, but take responsibility for your work when you leave. You’ll work so much overtime that you won’t know whether you’re coming or going—more character-building than military service.

- Bereavement and sick leave result in deductions from your perfect-attendance bonus. Holidays are not rescheduled either, and on typhoon days they’ll ask why you didn’t come to work.

- The boss likes to treat employees like tea-smoked geese in the office.

- Arriving at 7:45 a.m. counts as being late. Lunch break is only 50 minutes. If you clock out a few minutes after 5:00, the boss will call you into the office to chew you out.

- The company has no systems. Basically, all the work is dumped on you: if you can handle it, handle it; if you can’t… heh heh.

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