Workplace reviews and discussion: 台灣番薯傳播事業股份有限公司

When I was applying before, I saw that the reviews on Tianyancha were terrifying. After thinking about it for a long time, I decided to give it a try anyway—and unexpectedly got an offer.

I’ve been working here for over a year now, and I think the company is actually pretty good, so I thought I’d write a review.

1. The company has many departments, spread across various floors. There are TVs in many places playing company programs, but they’re muted, so they don’t affect work. Some offices do play the programs with sound, but it’s never very loud.

2. The restrooms are quite nice, almost like those in a hotel. I was surprised the first time I came here.

3. People leave as soon as the workday ends. There’s no mandatory overtime. At six o’clock every day, everyone turns around, switches off the lights, and disappears.

4. The bonuses for the three major festivals are all NT$2,000. At the year-end party, you can play games to win cash prizes. Employees with more than five years of seniority can draw prizes of NT$200,000 or NT$300,000.

5. In my department, being one minute late results in a NT$2 deduction. The company doesn’t have an attendance bonus system, so there’s no disgusting perfect-attendance bonus. If you take personal leave, they only deduct that day’s pay. There’s a company dinner around August or September every year. I’ve heard that they use the money deducted from late employees to pay for it, but they usually go to buffets like Hi-Lai or other all-you-can-eat restaurants. If you’re one minute late every day for a full year, I guess you still come out pretty well ahead.

6. Typhoon days are paid holidays with no salary deduction! Love it ❤

7. There are courses available every year. This year, there are courses on AI, marketing, health education, customer service, and so on. You can learn new things while working, which is pretty great. You do have to write a reflection and explain how you’ll apply it to your work, though.

8. Motorcycles can be parked in the underground parking lot. After parking, there’s a clock-in machine where you can swipe in and out directly. (I’m not sure whether this counts as a benefit—it’s just that at my previous companies, I had to fight for a parking space on the roadside and then hurry to the company floor to clock in, qq. So I really like this. Cars seem to be restricted to hosts or managers, though.)

9. You occasionally get to see celebrities like Huang Hsi-tien or Chen Shui-bian.

10. There are sometimes food and snacks in the pantry that you can take.

11. Public holidays are observed, and the several new holidays added this year are also days off.

12. Managers like to fatten up the employees. From time to time, there’s Angel fried chicken, drinks, or cake. (It’s not very frequent, but there was a period after the year-end party and Lunar New Year when fried chicken was especially common.)

13. The company has cleaning staff, so you don’t have to sweep, mop, or take out the trash.

1. The year-end bonus seems to depend on performance. However, when you receive it, you have to thank the boss in person and wish them a Happy New Year.

2. There are no company trips.

3. There’s no birthday cash gift.

4. The uniform is a little ugly. It looks a lot like Father Hsi’s clothes, but you only have to wear it on Mondays. I’ve heard they’re planning to redesign it.

5. The office doesn’t provide toilet paper (but there is some in the restrooms, so you don’t need to worry).

6. Although the company is downtown, there aren’t any restaurants or convenience stores within an easy walking distance. You have to rely on delivery, bring your own lunch and microwave it, or ride somewhere to buy food.

7. The company’s political color leans toward RGB 0, 255, 0, but when the museum opened, I saw a flower basket from Director Han, so perhaps it’s not that extreme.