Workplace reviews and discussion: 宏惟有限公司

After the interviewer asked a few simple, non-technical questions (about 10 minutes), the boss was asked to come in to discuss the salary. It was just casual chatting, and then they agreed to the salary offered. After passing the probation period, it could be increased by more than NT$3,000. The atmosphere felt very friendly and pleasant.

Benefits: Coffee, afternoon tea, and cash lunch subsidies

Advantages: Fewer than 10 people in the office, simple interpersonal relationships, and everyone helps one another

Work hours: Flexible start time from 8:30 to 9:00, so there is no need to worry about being late; it is safer when commuting, and there is no salary deduction for being late

The advantages of the interview all became reasons to consider resigning within the first minute of joining the company.

First, “simple interpersonal relationships”—apart from the boss, the company consists of his daughter, son, and wife; one colleague who started the business with the boss (26 years ago and still not a supervisor); one sales assistant who had been there for half a year; and the rest were newcomers and rookies. (On my first day, another new hire and I were the newest employees.)

1. Benefits

1. Lunch subsidy

Before 11:10 a.m., the newest rookie must order boxed lunches for everyone. How do you order them? Ask each person what they want to eat that day, one by one. After placing the order by phone, you must personally pick up the lunches and make sure to get them by 11:40, then return to the office and put them away before noon. If you are late, the boss will go crazy. A different restaurant is指定 each day, five days a week. Even if you do not eat lunch, or only one person orders, you still have to pick it up according to these requirements. On my first day, I had to carry three boxed lunches and walk for 10 minutes under the blazing sun because the boss’s wife had forgotten to include the chicken leg in her chicken-leg lunch box. She demanded that I take all three lunch boxes back, get the chicken leg, and then return.

*When I asked, “What if I don’t want a boxed lunch?” the person training me said, “Uh...it’s more convenient to eat with the company. If it’s a cash allowance...it’s not worth it! And even if you don’t eat, you still have to pick up the lunch boxes!”

2. Coffee

At exactly 3 p.m., a more senior assistant suddenly instructed me to make coffee. For every person other than yourself, you had to ask individually what kind of coffee they wanted—starting with the boss, the boss’s wife, their daughter, their son, and the person giving you the instructions. You had to remember their requirements and which cups they used. Every day before 3 p.m., you had to ask everyone, prepare and clean the coffee machine, wash the cups, refill the water, make the coffee, and deliver it to their desks. If you wanted coffee yourself, you could make some and drink it. Only after cleaning all the equipment could you finish. Regardless of whether you drank coffee, making coffee every afternoon was mandatory and could not be skipped.

*The boss specifically said not to buy coffee to drink at the company (to help you save money); the company lets you drink it for free.

3. Flexible working hours

Before I started, I was told that work began at 9:00, but everyone arrived quite early and I could come at 8:30. The company would never finish work later than 7 p.m., so overtime was not reported. In addition, on Saturdays, everyone had to take turns coming to the company for duty under a responsibility-based system. On the day in question, I arrived at 8:30, and neither arrival nor departure was recorded. “At the meeting, the boss said, ‘Safety comes first when commuting. There’s no need to rush. I hope you’ll use your weekends to work hard and give back to the company~!!’” I originally thought that arriving at 8:30 meant I could leave at 5:30. However, no matter what time you arrived, you left at 6. When it really reached 6 p.m., because the entire company was family—the company was like home—and no one clocked in or out, the other new hire and I had no idea what to do????.... At 6:10, I went directly to talk to the boss about leaving, and he immediately agreed, because I wanted to get off work???

The above still isn’t everything.

If you want to join this company to learn something, give up~~~!! The entire company is one family, and you are brought in as a servant to do odd jobs. You will absolutely not be given any opportunities to learn. The younger heir also stated directly that the boss does not like people who are stronger than him or who have their own ideas. He likes people who can be controlled and who obey. Otherwise, you will be forced out. If you want to stay, keep your eyes open—he does not want to train anyone anymore.