Workplace reviews and discussion: 正美船務代理有限公司

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1. Small company, with around 15 employees in total. There is no cleaning staff. All employees must arrive early every day to clean the office (sweep, mop, clean the windows, and wash cups). Everyone must take turns being responsible for taking out the trash and collecting the newspapers.

2. Family business: the chairman is the father, and the general manager is the son.

The general manager is like an emperor with absolute power. If anything does not suit him, he will summon the person to his office and berate them until everyone can hear.

3. High turnover, with employees being dismissed without warning. The reason given for dismissal is that the employee is not on the same wavelength as the general manager and does not understand his way of thinking. There have been 3–4 employees in the same position, all of whom left during the probation period; the company claims that they all resigned because they were unable to perform the job.

4. During interviews, they cut the salary and promise you a wonderful future, saying that you will receive your expected salary after passing the six-month probation period, and so on. However, only heaven knows who can actually pass the probation period.

5. On the first day of work, employees are required to sign a compensation guarantee, confidentiality clauses, and an agreement to be bound to the company for one year after completing the six-month probation period, with a clause prohibiting resignation at will. The employer does not proactively mention any of this during interviews.

6. Work ends punctually at 5:30 p.m. Overtime must be approved in advance by the general manager; otherwise, no overtime pay will be provided. The company claims that leaving work on time is one of its benefits.

7. After the six-month probation period, employees receive seven days of annual leave, but this is divided according to the annual settlement in April and calculated based on the month they joined the company, so they may not receive the full seven days of annual leave that year.

8. When taking leave, you do not need to report to your direct supervisor; you only need to report to a higher-level associate manager.

9. The workplace is in an old commercial office building, sharing the entire floor’s restrooms and pantry with other companies. The restroom is often very dirty and has no toilet paper. The company provides one pack per month; once it is used up, you have to bring your own.

10. The direct supervisor has absolutely no ability to manage people, likes to shirk responsibility, often takes long vacations, uses their phone during work, and is the first to rush out after work. They regard new employees as imagined rivals who might replace them and are constantly on guard, focusing only on currying favor with superiors. They have no time for you, let alone to teach you. They are a favorite of the general manager, like to make malicious reports to get colleagues pushed out, like men and dislike women, and show severe favoritism and protectiveness. They know little and lack ability; even maintaining their own position is a problem.

11. The male colleagues in the same group imitate them. They lack team spirit and like to snatch work and seek recognition in front of the supervisor and general manager. When the supervisor is absent, they claim not to know anything, then come ask you what they should do.

12. You have to go greet the general manager both when arriving at and leaving work. Interactions among colleagues are cold, and all the unpleasant tasks fall on the same few undesirable positions.

13. The work is very boring, and you learn nothing. As sales staff, you have to follow upper management’s instructions for everything. When you raise this with the company, they instead accuse you of not being proactive enough. Your direct supervisor sits behind you and keeps a close eye on what you are doing on your computer all day.

14. They particularly favor hiring people who studied in Japan or have work experience at Japanese companies overseas, then arbitrarily cut their salaries. After joining, they expect them to have the spirit of a recent graduate, work hard, endure hardships, and be called around like a junior assistant. If someone reports that you are not up to the job, you may be told to get out that very day; after you leave, they immediately reopen the position and start recruiting again.

15. Internal communication is conducted through messaging software (Skype, LINE). You have to be very careful about what you say, and even on days off you must remain on call and constantly check messages. Only heaven knows whether the company can back up or access the chat records.

16. If I had seen the comments from the three people above earlier, I would not have chosen to join this terrible company. Unless you have no other choice, I strongly recommend thinking it over carefully before the interview! Do not come here just to be mistreated for nothing!