Workplace reviews and discussion: 財團法人伊甸社會福利基金會

If you have thick skin and are looking for a stable job until retirement, go for it.

A fixed year-end bonus of one month’s salary, NT$3,000 each for the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival (prorated if you have not worked a full year), plus a performance bonus.

An employee travel subsidy of NT$3,000, but even this NT$3,000 is not easy to get. You have to apply in advance with a travel plan and submit it.

Afterward, you have to write a reflection and attach pictures, all of which will be reviewed.

To be honest, I don’t consider this a benefit. It’s terrible.

Pay is based on job grade, divided into Grade 3 Specialist, Grade 4 Associate, and Grade 2 Senior Specialist (who may also serve as a team leader or section chief), with only a few thousand dollars’ difference between them.

There are more Grade 3 and Grade 4 positions, while Grade 2 positions are fewer.

Grade 3 salaries may be within NT$35,000, while Grade 4 salaries should be below NT$30,000.

The only ways to get a raise are to move up a grade or take a management position. That’s it.

Basically, this is probably the pay structure for all internal departments.

The IT department pays slightly more than other administrative departments, but compared with outside IT companies, the pay is still pitifully low.

However, the IT department is also attacked by other departments, who say that IT salaries are too high.

The IT department’s workplace environment and atmosphere are nevertheless much better than those of other departments.

My negative review is aimed at the Eden Social Welfare Foundation’s general administration office and board of directors.

The IT department is good; personally, I think the other departments are poor.

This is a company with a very strong religious atmosphere, so keep that in mind if you want to join. You could call it a Christian company.

There is an internal unit responsible for promoting Christianity. It’s really something... the religion even founded a dedicated unit.

There is a morning devotional session every day (the religious unit arranges for people to give talks, which then turn to topics related to Christianity).

If you are at the section-chief level, company managers will be scheduled to give talks during the morning devotional sessions...

Participation is generally not mandatory, but if your supervisor is a Christian... they will hope that you attend.

Before I left, my supervisor was a Christian, but he did not force anyone to participate, so it was fine.

Each department also has a midday devotional session. The concept is the same as the morning session, but if you are not a Christian, you do not really have anything to say.

So people like us would just play a video for half an hour and then finish.

In addition, there is a monthly section meeting where the supervisor reports the month’s work to the department head and explains what the department has done.

This meeting also includes a so-called Gospel session, during which the department’s evangelism unit comes to talk about various things.

The company also requires various training activities and submissions. We read a book and share our reflections, then switch to another book after finishing it. I hate reading, so I really dislike this.

There is also a department meeting every month. Simply put, employees take turns reporting what they have done. However, since no one in our department is Christian, there is no Gospel session. If the supervisor is a Christian, though, maybe there would be one?

There is also so-called individual supervision, where the team leader or section chief checks on employees’ work status and even discusses future arrangements.

The company’s recently appointed chairman actually wants to carry out major reforms (lay people off?), starting with the IT department.

First, he required the preparation of a year’s worth of database data for each system.

Then came various interviews, where managers and employees at every level were pinned against the wall (as a result, quite a few people left the IT department).

Finally, he required everyone to submit daily work reports detailing what they were doing during each time period.

After that, the chairman brought in a good friend as a consultant to reform the IT department.

If I were a manager, I would probably think this was ridiculous. Otherwise, they might as well make him the manager.

Everything described above is factual. If you have any questions, leave a comment above; I’ll check back from time to time.

If you are considering joining the IT department, my sincere advice is:

The users there are very stubborn, insist on their own opinions, and do not listen to others.

In the name of management, they make systems overly complicated and difficult to use, especially administrative systems.

Our users have a record of making outside IT vendors furious.

They made vendors unwilling to continue maintaining the systems and unwilling to sign maintenance contracts.

The recently introduced ERP is one example. I heard there had been something similar before, but I forgot.