Workplace reviews and discussion: 國語週刊文化事業股份有限公司

The longtime employees are easy to get along with.

Let's look at this in terms of timing, location, and people.

Timing:

Publishing educational materials for young children is practically the worst of the worst in an already disastrous industry. However, this may also be because the company is not large enough. In reality, under the excellent performance of the low-birth-rate office, it is indeed on the verge of collapse.

Location:

If you live near this publisher, you may consider it. But if you live far away, absolutely don't. Just commuting there will make you question your life choices. Although it is indeed near an MRT station, it is not as simple as a one- or two-minute walk. There is also another company in the same building that occupies three or four floors; when you reach their floors, you will notice that the air-conditioning is much cooler.

Most importantly, the people:

There are no benefits at all, and even the few that do exist are gradually being reduced.

The salary is extremely low. Supervisors may even tell others that they hired someone because that person was cheap, as if they consider themselves part of management.

The technical capability is inadequate, and they cannot lead their subordinates. They even push everything onto their subordinates and will not advocate for them. When subordinates do well, it is only natural for the supervisor to take the credit; when they do poorly, it is even more “appropriate” for them to be oppressed. Meanwhile, a supervisor in another department suspected they might be at risk after coming into contact with someone suspected of having COVID-19. After raising the matter with the boss, that entire department was allowed to self-manage its working hours. The department I am referring to here, however, simply “obediently” followed the boss's instructions. Even when a subordinate, concerned about the risk of infection, asked whether working from home was possible, the request was ignored. From this, it is clear that getting a raise or asking for benefits is basically impossible. Even if something is granted, it will not be yours, because your share may well be turned into fuel for the “reporter” to absorb. In addition, this department mostly makes products used by the publisher to deceive children, and you will have almost no opportunity to develop any professional expertise.

As for the publisher's boss, he is even more unscrupulous. He throws out wild, unrealistic ideas, and this publisher has been reported to the labor bureau several times. This exploitative boss enjoys turning the people under him against one another so that he can maintain control of the publisher. It is not a territory he founded, but the life's work of the previous company president. He even whispers in the ears of people he wants to recruit, doing everything possible to make them destroy one another, with the winner of this “gu-raising” contest taking over. Furthermore, if this exploitative boss does not put any promised rewards in writing, do not simply believe one-sided verbal claims and act on them. I think all experienced colleagues know what I mean.

Also, if you are participating this year in the Ministry of Labor's Youth Employment Incentive Program—which appears generous on the surface but is still actually stingy—you should be especially wary of this exploitative boss. He seems to transfer employees between affiliated companies for some kind of “income-and-expense adjustment,” but while saving money for himself, he may cause you to lose your incentive payment. If you are as smart as you think you are, do not proactively inform the company yourself. Given everything this exploitative boss has done as described above, can you really be sure that telling him will not give him leverage to exploit you completely?

There is also another post saying that he takes on outsourcing work. I strongly advise against having any employment relationship with this publisher. The amount of work required for outsourcing is substantial, because outsourced assignments are invariably the publisher's worst jobs. The pay is low, payment is late, and countless previous contractors have either been eliminated or fled before completing their assignments.

Finally, whether you are old or young, an experienced senior colleague or a newcomer, please do not linger here, lest you end up questioning your life and wasting your time.