Workplace reviews and discussion: 台灣大洋金幣有限公司

None at all

The boss is Chinese. The company’s working hours are 09:00–18:00, but he expects you to send a “good morning” message in the group chat every morning before clocking in. He wants you to do this as soon as you wake up; otherwise, he says you don’t have the company in your heart.

In the morning, he waits at the downstairs reception desk for employees to arrive, watching what time they clock in. However, he goes by the time on his phone. Even if you clock in at 09:00, he still says you are 20 seconds late; even if you arrive at 08:59, he still says you were only a few seconds away from being late. He then requires every colleague who has clocked in and entered work each morning to greet one another with a smile. Each person has to walk up to the boss and coworkers and say “good morning” energetically, using the other person’s name. If you don’t, he says you don’t have the company in your heart.

If you’re lucky, you can go to your seat and prepare for work. If you’re unlucky, he will keep you at the doorway to humiliate you for a while. It is usually about things like: “Why didn’t you check whether the store display was turned on when you came in to help look after the store? Your level of professionalism is inadequate!” or “Why didn’t you say anything when you were going upstairs? That’s very impolite!” These issues have absolutely nothing to do with your actual duties or the day’s priorities. He then asks whether you have the company in your heart.

Next comes the 09:30 morning meeting. The scheduled agenda is roughly “reporting each person’s work priorities for the day, discussing ways to improve sales performance, and matters such as mutual assistance and interaction among the team’s departments.” In reality, everyone first listens to him complain about sales, followed by him explaining how he will lead everyone in improving sales precisely. If you’re lucky, he may talk for 10 minutes; if you’re unlucky, you’ll listen to him for an hour. Regardless of the duration, most of it has nothing to do with your work that day. Then everyone reports their respective priorities for the day, after which he takes a dig at each person. If you’re lucky, he may lecture you once or twice; if you’re unlucky, he will keep mentioning you throughout the meeting, mocking you as unprofessional and saying you don’t have the company in your heart. He loves saying that everyone should have positive energy and not constantly complain or spread negative energy. In reality, he is the source of all the negativity in the company. He also likes to say that the morning meeting is for communication among all departments and that colleagues should help one another, but then emphasizes that no one is allowed to create a company group without him, leaving everyone baffled. After the meeting, you are guaranteed to face the day’s work carrying a full load of negative energy.

Employees are not allowed to eat breakfast at the company during working hours. From time to time, he asks everyone in the morning meeting whether they have eaten breakfast that day, saying that those who have already eaten are fine, while reminding those who have not that breakfast cannot be eaten at the company. If you speak or reply too quietly, he says you lack energy, then asks what time you went to bed the previous day and requires you to go to bed before 11:00 p.m. and get up at 7:00 a.m. every day. Even office staff have to sit up straight while working; you cannot put your hands in your pockets, stand with your hands on your hips, chew gum, and so on—various bizarre Chinese regulations. You are also not allowed to have a bowel movement at the company. After a former employee disclosed this online, the boss still did not think there was anything wrong with it, saying that, for the sake of employees’ health, it was perfectly reasonable to require them to use the bathroom at home before leaving for work. The entire workday is spent listening to him talk about matters completely unrelated to your work. Regarding work-related matters, he finds all sorts of absurd reasons to scold you for being unprofessional. If you explain or try to discuss things with him, he says, “Don’t give me a bunch of excuses,” and continues saying that you are unprofessional. If you respect him by asking for his opinion before doing something, he says the company hired you to make proposals and let him know about them, then says again that you are truly unprofessional. In the end, he still says that you don’t have the company in your heart.

He loves calling everyone into a meeting 20–30 minutes before the end of the workday. It is the same routine as in the morning and usually delays your departure by 5–20 minutes. Most of the topics are not urgent. Afterward, he adds something about leading everyone and everyone needing to have the company in their hearts. The next morning’s meeting then repeats what was discussed in the meeting before closing time the previous day. When it is time to leave, he requires you to say goodbye to your coworkers, but in reality, he only cares whether you tell him you are leaving and say goodbye to him.

If you feel you have a wonderful life ahead of you and are absolutely confident in your abilities, this company will completely overturn your view of Chinese people. If you want to fully develop your talents in a particular field, you would have to be foolish to join this company.