Workplace reviews and discussion: 空中美語文教事業股份有限公司

I’m from the editorial department:

1. Welcomes recent graduates:

Partly because the turnover rate is very high, but it can be a good stepping stone for recent graduates interested in this industry. Most senior colleagues are quite friendly toward new employees.

2. Salaries are paid on time.

3. You can leave work on time:

If you are not in a management position, the workload is not too heavy, and you can leave work on time almost every day. Of course, there may still be overtime during the peak publishing season.

I’m from the editorial department:

1. Few promotion opportunities, limited chances for salary increases, overtime pay is difficult to claim, holiday bonuses are minimal, and the year-end bonus is less than a quarter of a month’s salary.

2. Since the company is solely owned by the boss, only employees the boss likes are promoted (mostly women or people with overseas study experience). If you become a target of the boss’s confidants, you are doomed.

3. The company has a hundred reasons to fine employees, while those with special relationships with upper management are exempt:

The IT department monitors internet usage. Once, the IT department proposed fining employees for “internet abuse.” Almost every department was fined, yet certain employees in one department were exempt because they had good personal relationships with the IT department, despite watching YouTube, browsing online stores, and scrolling through Facebook every day.

4. Managers are frequently parachuted in, and even those without expertise in the industry hold important decision-making authority.

5. Many senior employees lack professionalism and have poor attitudes toward their supervisors:

I have encountered senior graphic designers who only knew the basic functions of Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, to the point that exporting an entire book took them all afternoon. I have also encountered senior editors who left children’s books and exam papers riddled with errors during proofreading. Because they collectively bully their supervisors, the supervisors turn a blind eye to their behavior.

6. Many senior employees find all kinds of ways to shirk, offloading their work onto others. They find excuses to work overtime even when performing simple tasks, so the boss thinks they are very hardworking. Their reported overtime starts at 30 hours, but in reality they are spending that time drinking tea and chatting in the office.

7. Teams that genuinely work hard and improve themselves cannot speak up for themselves without support from their supervisors; their efforts will not be recognized.

It is a company where the boss does not care about frontline employees, a small number of senior employees hold great power, and long-serving employees coast toward retirement.