Workplace reviews and discussion: 樺霖有限公司

This was my former company, where I worked for roughly three years. The colleagues in the design department were all very helpful in resolving questions, and the supervisors were quite good as well. If a project got stuck, whether within the same group or department, the supervisor would coordinate with available colleagues to provide support. Once, while on my way to work, I got into a minor car accident because I was rushing to clock in by 9:10 for a NT$2,000 perfect-attendance bonus. Unexpectedly, the boss’s wife, who usually seemed strict, canceled the clock-in system because of this and directly incorporated the perfect-attendance bonus into everyone’s monthly salary! During my recovery, the company also paid me my full salary and told me to focus on getting well, which really surprised me. However, sometimes the way she spoke was really [expletive]. Although I left my former company two years ago because of my personal career plans, I am still very grateful for the help and guidance my former supervisor and colleagues gave me at work. Although this company could be busy and require overtime, I was able to learn about and gain experience with many new technologies and techniques from all kinds of projects, building up a substantial portfolio. This allowed me to negotiate good salaries at the companies I interviewed with afterward. I heard that several designers there left and later returned on their own, probably because they felt that the company’s system, benefits, and work content were genuinely good compared with others in the industry. Otherwise, as everyone says, if it is really so demanding and exhausting, why would anyone want to go back?

What could be improved? Probably reducing overtime! But worldwide, there probably isn’t a design company that never requires overtime! As long as the compensatory-leave system is well established, that’s fine! The good thing here is that if you work through the night, you don’t have to come to work the next day—you can rest at home. If you work overtime on holidays, you accumulate compensatory leave, so those who want to take a longer vacation can save up several days and find a suitable time to use them.