Family-owned business
The issue of low wages for domestic workers has recently sparked considerable discussion. The causes identified in these discussions include Taiwan’s ineffective industrial restructuring, companies operating through price-cutting competition by suppressing labor costs, generally low wages in the service industry, the devaluation of educational credentials due to an oversupply of graduates, workers’ insufficient bargaining power over wages, and the anchoring effect of the 22K wage level.
While most discussions focus on industrial structure and labor-market factors, some market observers examine the causes of Taiwan’s low wages from the perspective of social sentiment and culture. Many Taiwanese businesses are family-owned. On the one hand, they may lack sufficient capital to pay high salaries; on the other hand, when designing compensation plans, some family businesses may be more inclined to consider the interests of family members, resulting in relatively lower salaries for other employees. Public opinion has also criticized Taiwanese business owners for being stingy with money, often treating employees as “workers” rather than “partners,” being less willing to provide sufficient training or help employees grow, and feeling even less need to pay higher wages. These values mainly stem from Taiwan’s long-standing culture of careful cost calculation, particularly among family-run businesses.
For example, market observer Chen Zhendong noted that in Taiwanese family businesses, family members often occupy senior management positions. In particular, executives at Taiwan-listed companies are frequently major shareholders: they pay themselves high salaries and arrange for family members and relatives to serve as executives and receive high salaries. To remain accountable to shareholders, they then have to suppress entry-level wages to maintain profit levels. He therefore believes that executives’ self-interest leading to unequal wage distribution is one of the reasons for Taiwan’s low entry-level wages.
Another example is the “Table of Economic Growth Rates over the Years and the Share of Factor Income in Gross Domestic Product” published by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics. It shows that over the past 25 years, the share of employee compensation in Taiwan’s GDP fell from more than 50% in 1992 to 44.9% in 2020, while during the same period the share of operating surplus in GDP rose from 30% to 34%. This indicates that corporate profits have not flowed into employee wages. In response, media worker Peng Xingzhu pointed out that business owners profit but are unwilling to share generously; the money all ends up in the pockets of business owners and major shareholders, making Taiwan’s distribution of wealth even more unequal!
The location is in a new building
This was the first time I encountered a situation where I could not see the inside of the company. The interview was held in the reception area on the first floor of the building. When I arrived, I could not get through to the security guard by phone, so I had to contact them myself. The interview was conducted by a woman in her 40s or 50s. A written test and résumé forms had to be completed, so there were three items in total: 1. Résumé form, 2. Accounting questions and answers, and 3. A standard housing contract reference template. The back of the résumé contained the following questions: 1. Reason for leaving the previous job, 2. Three strengths and three weaknesses, 3. How you got along with your former colleagues, 4. Whether you had any unpleasant experiences with your former supervisor, and 5. Expectations for your future work. The accounting questions mainly covered categorizing accounts, calculating lease interest, estimating costs, points to note when reviewing accounts receivable and accounts payable, the contract preparation process (which is why a template was provided), points to note when signing a lease agreement, and whom you would need to contact.
The whole process took nearly an hour, and I spent almost all of it writing. During the interview, they asked about my previous work experience and requested a brief description of my duties. The company mainly introduces and displays furniture and rents spaces to vendors for sales, so the job involves handling the contents of lease agreements. The company had just moved, its operations did not yet have a fixed system, and it planned to introduce the Ares system in the future. I had briefly looked at the interview experiences written by previous applicants. One of the posts about an applicant who was hired mentioned that two people participated in the interview, so I already more or less knew that being told at the end that the information would be passed on to the supervisor, who would notify me separately, meant there was no result. They only introduced what the company does, did not mention anything else, and did not ask whether I had any questions. It therefore felt like a silent rejection, and I treated it as an experience.
Since the written test takes a lot of time, I recommend setting aside a substantial amount of time in advance. Also, because I did not get to see the company’s internal environment during my first visit, it is best to take what they say with a grain of salt.
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The chief accountant is the boss’s younger sister, which can make you suffer an unexpected setback. One plays the good cop and the other the bad cop—the same old trick.
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The chief accountant is the boss’s younger sister, which can make you fall into a trap; one plays the good cop and the other the bad cop—an old trick.
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1. The boss often loses his temper, swears, and bangs on the table
2. Meetings are long and inconclusive; Monday is the company-wide meeting, so you absolutely must not take leave
3. A family business with a poor company culture, atmosphere, and systems
4. The accounting department likes to meddle, pretends to understand things it does not, and works without logic, resulting in an extremely high employee turnover rate
5. The boss is highly suspicious and does not trust employees
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The interview on 2017/7/3 was for a (Senior Graphic Designer/Senior Visual Merchandising Designer) position.
When I arrived for the interview, I found that the person they were primarily looking for was actually a marketing planner. The main issue was that when the manager came over, they had only just looked at my résumé and then said that I couldn't apply for the senior designer position. Don't they look at résumés beforehand? I had already listed my experience on it. If you had read my résumé in advance, I wouldn't have had to make this wasted trip. Throughout the interview, they kept emphasizing that the company mainly focuses on marketing and that the art editing portion accounts for only a small part. If that's the case, why not simply interview candidates for a marketing planner position? Why advertise for a graphic designer? It's completely misleading and a waste of everyone's time! Finally, the leave policy allows time off only on Saturdays and Sundays. That sounds fairly normal, but public holidays are not observed! The company doesn't take the Dragon Boat Festival or Qingming Festival holidays off, and even when a typhoon is officially declared to have suspended work and classes, there is still no day off—you still have to go to the company and clock in. Isn't that a violation of the Labor Standards Act? The interviewer even emphasized that this was one of the sacrifices required by the job. I was left completely confused.
The interviewer was also very impolite. After looking at my résumé, they blurted out, “You graduated quite a while ago and are still looking for a job. Is your family really well-off?” (The original poster graduated last year, was waiting to serve in the military, and was discharged this March.) I thought, “What does that have to do with you?!” What does this have to do with the interview?
Overall, I have no idea what kind of person this company is actually looking for. If the position they really needed was a marketing staff member, they could simply have stated at the top of the job posting that they wanted someone with marketing expertise. They wrote a whole list saying they needed someone for exhibition design and graphic design, but in the end they wanted you to plan events! It has little to do with graphic editing.