Workplace reviews and discussion: 歐律有限公司

The products are simple and not very technical. Manufacturing and exports are mainly handled through a factory in Huizhou, China, with payments collected offshore. The company’s products are derivative product lines created through a copy-and-paste approach. Because of its high gross margins and numerous offshore companies, the company can afford to offer relatively high salaries, requiring only the boss’s trust and loyalty. Most employees are not particularly capable, and many have been with the company for more than 15 years. The boss is domineering but rarely comes to the office; management decisions are based largely on what employees tell him. As a result, employees are mutually guarded and avoid conflict, allowing them to coast and collect their salaries. Playing dumb means you do not need to shoulder performance targets, creating an overall atmosphere of comfort and coasting toward retirement. Because the company has many offshore-registered entities, it is said that long-serving employees have received salaries in U.S. dollars for years and do not need to pay much in personal income tax.

It is said that because the company is run as a one-person dictatorship by a domineering boss, employees have developed a strong subservient mentality and tend to avoid responsibility. Staying too long can cause you to lose your competitiveness in the job market. The company has many of the boss’s informants, so although you can coast along collecting a salary, it is difficult to find room to make an impact. Because of the overall quality and attitudes of the staff, the company’s competitiveness is relatively low and it will only gradually decline, lacking the drive for reform and growth. It may be suitable as a short-term stopgap while looking for another job, but it is not advisable to stay long-term.