1. The benefits system is comprehensive; you receive what you are entitled to. 2. The company has a cleaning department, so someone handles the garbage.

3. Meal cards are provided and can be used at all Shin Kong Department Store counters throughout Taiwan. 4. The level of freedom is fairly high, with flexible scheduling.

5. There are many employees, so you can meet lots of people. 6. Large stores have abundant resources. 7. The year-end bonus is at least 1.5 months’ salary.

1. The design department at large stores in southern Taiwan inexplicably has two supervisors, and their ideas and direction are not the same. After one person makes major revisions to a draft, the next person revises it again. Proposals also have to be approved by the highest-ranking marketing supervisor, the deputy store manager, and the store manager. Therefore, working overtime to revise drafts until midnight is common, while the supervisors themselves do not work on campaign periods.

2. Campaign periods are classified as large, small, or easy campaigns. Work assignments depend on how much the supervisor likes you. If you are obedient and good at flattering people, congratulations—you can happily and comfortably stay here until retirement. But if you are not the favored one, you will definitely have a very difficult time.

3. Following from the previous point, because some people get to take it easy, the workload remains tight even when sufficient staffing is provided, since you have to take on the work of those people.

3. Supervisors do not respect or value their subordinates, nor do they listen to others’ opinions. They believe replacement employees can always be found and treat subordinates as disposable chopsticks.

4. Supervisors do not take responsibility. When something goes wrong, you have to shoulder it yourself. Even if they approved the proposal and the store manager later criticizes it, you still have to take the blame—and they will turn around and scold you.

5. The workplace atmosphere is very poor and stressful. Supervisors’ moods are unpredictable, and whether a proposal gets approved depends on their mood at the time.

6. When working here, do not be the best performer or the worst performer. If you are capable, you will be treated as a utility person and assigned many tasks; if you are at the bottom, you will be singled out and targeted relentlessly. Shin Kong has no option for laying off employees, so supervisors use workloads and hostile attitudes to drive out people they dislike.

7. Here, working hard and doing a good job does not mean you will receive the feedback or rewards you deserve. Knowing how to flatter people is far more advantageous than working yourself to death. You will understand what “advantageous” means when you open your bonus and performance-review payments.

8. The corporate culture and thinking are traditional. Old-fashioned attitudes prevail, and supervisors who do not do their jobs occupy positions indefinitely.

9. Staff turnover is extremely high. Apart from some older, experienced employees who cannot leave, young people usually leave shortly after joining—or are forced out.

10. Every month, a useless design meeting is held to prove that the supervisors are doing something. They say the same things every time, such as “manage your time well.”

11. Supervisors make many additional company rules of their own.

12. Do not become too close to your coworkers or go out with them privately. If supervisors find out, they will target you through work-related matters.

13. Pay attention to your own safety at work. If you accidentally have an accident and get injured, the supervisor and the company will not take care of you.

14. There is no overtime pay. To exchange overtime for compensatory leave, you must first obtain the supervisor’s approval. However, because overtime requests are often made difficult, many people continue working overtime after clocking out. Supervisors know this is happening but turn a blind eye, then scold you when something goes wrong.

15. Supervisors leave work on time, while others eat fruit, drink tea, and chat during work hours, and you work overtime endlessly, unable to sleep or rest.

16. If you are a newcomer, you can come in to build your résumé and portfolio for one or two years and learn how a large company operates, treating it as a stepping stone. Otherwise, I would recommend not joining at all. If you do come, think it through carefully. If you are favored, things may feel great for the time being, but you will always have to pay the price eventually. In this authoritarian environment, it is essentially, “What I bestow upon you is yours.” What happened to others may one day happen to you.