南一書局企業股份有限公司(總公司)

The job is fairly stable

You can drive the company vehicle home

The teaching materials are far inferior to those of other companies

The working hours are very long

The workload is never-ending, so you have to use your annual leave to get it done

Endless forms to complete

Endless meetings

Endless training sessions

You have to sell a lot of exams, study-guide sets, and other things unrelated to teaching

Management demands a lot while providing very few benefits

1. It “extremely” respects industry experience. For people from 1. leading competitors or 2. top performers in the industry, when they come to Nani, you can name your base salary. There is no upper limit.

(Note: 1. Annual salary = base salary × 13–13.5, so it may not necessarily exceed your annual salary at your previous company. 2. No one can guarantee how long a high base salary will last. The higher it is set, the faster it may come to an end.)

A classic case of “giving outsiders preference over one’s own people”: when outsiders switch jobs, they can ask for however high a base salary and however senior a position they want.

For people already inside, getting an adjustment of 1,000 or 1,500 is extremely difficult—comparable to overcoming five passes and defeating six generals. You have to teach the market share of the textbooks, achieve a certain number of evaluation registrations, and have good relationships with the team.

People coming from outside are casually given assistant manager or manager titles plus a base salary. Last year, someone from X Teng came over and was given a manager title and put in charge of a region. But that person was soft: they came during the summer, stayed for two months, did not sell even a single book, and eventually went crawling back to X Teng.

In fact, Nani still has many excellent people who have been buried by this terrible system.

Many people who left Nani for competitors have performed steadily and done very well. The reason I can only call it “steady” is that competitors tend to look down on people from Nani to some extent. Therefore, after moving to a competitor, even outstanding performers will be deliberately suppressed.

Conversely, people who move from competitors to Nani generally either perform merely average (since they have already been given a managerial position, it cannot really be called deliberate suppression) or simply cannot stay.

My personal work experience at this company was several years ago. I figured I probably wouldn’t run into anyone there anymore, so I felt comfortable writing this review.

As for the advantages, the company is willing to take on inexperienced newcomers. As long as you are willing to learn and adapt to the environment, I think you should be able to get by. At the time, the environment at the northern headquarters was somewhat poor. There was a moldy smell in the office, and the sanitary conditions seemed problematic. I don’t know whether there simply wasn’t enough money to maintain the environment. However, because my work at the time involved field assignments, the poor company environment did not affect me for very long. Regarding building relationships with school clients, there also seemed to be a certain level of existing contact, and new employees were not expected to work entirely on their own from the beginning.

As for the disadvantages, the atmosphere at the company was very oppressive. During meetings, supervisors would ask us employees to share our opinions, but I observed that the employees did not say a single word. It goes without saying that employees had their own difficulties that prevented them from speaking up. The company culture also seemed to have some problems. Senior employees told us that the junior boss had returned from studying in the United States, so I misjudged the situation and assumed the company would have an American-style culture—such as a flat organizational structure, being able to address supervisors by their English first names, and speaking frankly. However, I was wrong. The company culture was still primarily based on traditional Chinese values of hierarchy and respect for seniority. In addition, the turnover rate was high; every few days, you could hear that someone was going to change jobs and resign.

The most important point is that the company would fire employees even when they had not made any serious mistakes. For those who are interested in experiencing this kind of excitement, I recommend following the approach of the employees mentioned above: silence is golden—do not stand out, in order to ensure job security.

(The following observations are from the Northern Branch)

1. Salary and benefits

If you have the ability, you can negotiate your salary; those with better qualifications can get over 40K (with industry experience). The company provides a vehicle, and there are additional performance bonuses and year-end bonuses for meeting targets. Overall, the benefits are much better than before.

2. Job content

The workplace atmosphere is relaxed. If planners have a need, they can schedule external visits, and sales schedules are generally not made difficult. Overall, the colleagues are very nice. Since this is a textbook industry, things are relatively straightforward.

(The following observations are from the Northern Branch)

1. No clear system

Promotions, administrative procedures, rewards, and penalties are basically decided by the supervisor. The company policies are there merely for reference (just like traffic lights in southern Taiwan). If the supervisor is in a good mood, nothing happens; if the supervisor is unhappy, they may tell you not to come in tomorrow. This is the same from the current general manager down to the regional managers—they act according to their moods.

Not even a few people know exactly how much bonus will be paid, or on what date (lol).

2. The brand is too weak

Whether in the elementary, middle, or high school segments, the market share is almost always last. Put nicely, it means there is always room to grow; put less nicely, no matter how hard you work, this is as far as you get. So no matter how capable you are at this company, people in the industry still see you as an ordinary person, and it will not add value to your résumé.

It is probably at Luxgen's level (lol).

In summary,

what matters in this industry is market share, and that applies equally to office and field staff. If you are choosing between Nani and another company, you might as well go to the other company.

Every company has to work overtime during peak seasons, but at Nani, overtime is almost always spent chatting, putting on an act, and wasting time. At every company, when business is good, people are nice and there is plenty of money; but at Nani, the likelihood of poor performance is much higher than elsewhere. Every company has a lot of administrative work, but Nani is the most traditional: lots of paperwork, lots of procedures, and lots of idiots (the computer and document skills are terrible). Every company's managers are emotional, but Nani's managers are the best at emotional blackmail—saying how good the company is to you, then blaming you for everything when the results are poor, QQ.

Nani has improved compared with the past, but competing publishers in the industry have improved even more. Working in the textbook business is like serving in the military; Nani is probably at the level of the Marine Corps, unfortunately without the extra pay.

Want to improve enough to surpass the others? The second-generation successor spends every day cooking and appearing in the media; the managers spend all day putting on an act and drinking, then look at the numbers and find a scapegoat to take the blame. It would be pretty good if they simply did not shut down~

1. Being in the right department and under a manager favored by senior management is still a place where newcomers can gain experience. Staying for a few years makes your résumé look reasonably acceptable.

2. As long as you have a good relationship with your manager, most matters or difficult problems can be resolved with ease (and vice versa).

(The following applies to the northern office.)

1. At the strategy level, the junior-high division can only be described as chaotic. During the marketing period, everyone holds meetings intensively to fight for the version, but when the results are poor, they start wasting one another’s time by blaming and shirking responsibility. This also confirms why Nani’s market share has never exceeded that of its competitors since the new curriculum began (with a few exceptions among certain subjects).

2. Execution cannot be put into practice. It is always easier to talk than to act, without exception. The boss places no importance on the company’s textbook business, and even publicly stated that if the junior-high division did not perform well, it would be shut down. Yet there was no integrity whatsoever, and the company still clings to this business (which suggests that it may be profitable, that the boss cannot bring himself to give it up, or simply that the boss is wealthy enough and wants to keep burning money).

3. Resource allocation is Nani’s biggest problem. Nani is a family business, and its substantial financial resources are almost universally evident. However, the current boss’s biggest goal is digital education (a company has already been established to operate it), while the textbook business that built the company has long since ceased to be a priority, and the focus of its funding has gradually shifted elsewhere. In addition, the incident that emerged in mid-2020 (https://tw.appledaily.com/local/20200730/MSTMO3TXJIRWTRXDO6WK6K6GKGJY/) also raises questions about whether there are further financial irregularities.

4. The standards for appointing managers are extremely careless. Most of Nani’s managers are parachuted in from other companies in the same industry (with highly uneven competence). The rest are people who have worked at Nani for a long time and, despite factional struggles, have survived or gained favor and thus risen to power. (They are almost all incompetent deadweights who create problems all day and make their subordinates take responsibility.) The number of managers who can genuinely lead their subordinates and fulfill their managerial duties is practically zero. Even those who once performed their managerial responsibilities well have mostly left because of the company’s factional culture and the socializing habits of senior editorial management. Some managers do not even understand what editors are supposed to do. Even after senior editors have taught them hundreds of times, they still know nothing about the editorial process, and their proofreading never truly addresses the key issues. They nevertheless consider themselves “veteran editors,” using the title of editor and managerial authority to force subordinates to comply. It is clear from this why Nani’s editorial department has declined to this point.

5. The best example of wanting to reform but being brought down by one’s own management. The northern office once established rules for work processes, but to managers and senior management, the best workflow or regulation is not an explicit rule written in black and white. Instead, it is an order issued by senior managers via messages or phone calls, so that they can keep their hands clean and avoid being blamed by the boss.

6. Resource restrictions lead to an even worse negative cycle. As stated in point two, Nani is not without money, but it is unwilling to invest and has even begun restricting resources. It also shows great contempt for its customers (distributors, teachers, parents, and others). For revisions to the new curriculum—especially the second-year junior-high textbooks, which are important for many subjects—it invested only half as much as it did the year before last. Teachers will surely feel the results of this investment once the books are published. In addition, the production of supplementary materials is merely superficial; the quality of their content is as crude as papier-mâché and difficult to look at. You may wish to visit bookstores and take a look. Given the competencies emphasized by the curriculum and the direction of the Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students, Nani’s editorial department can be said to be cutting corners and trying to fish for everyone’s money blindly. Parents and teachers should keep their eyes open and look carefully.

7. The harsh treatment of copy editors is as severe as if they were bearing an original sin. No matter what goes wrong, it is almost always the copy editor who has to take the blame: the art department lays out the wrong manuscript, sales fail to sell well, the author is not properly handled, the printer misprints the M99 edition, and so on—too many examples to list.

8. Senior management lives in comfort while subordinates are exhausted. The senior management of this company arguably has the easiest life of all. Every Tuesday is their time for entertaining, and even after the pandemic broke out in May, they continued to stay in the office, open bottles, raise glasses, and invite middle managers or important figures whom senior management favored to “join in the festivities.” The monthly cost of eating, drinking, and entertainment for this group—starting at six figures in New Taiwan dollars—has even exceeded the various official-business expenses of the northern office (across multiple departments), to the point that even the accountants at the Tainan headquarters could not stand it. When editors hear senior management say, “Our textbook budget is insufficient; we need to reduce costs,” who could possibly believe that this company’s products are high-quality and promising under such use of funds?

In addition, the company’s art consultant, unable to become art director, clings to senior managers in the north, going around eating and drinking well, attending social events, and getting drunk and causing disturbances at numerous establishments (the businesses in Shenkeng complain to and warn one another). He takes leave whenever he wants during work hours, throws his weight around in meetings, and has even come to the office wearing beach shorts and flip-flops, using his influence to yell at editors as if he could control everything.

9. As stated in point eight, middle managers basically imitate what they see and create factions within their own groups as well: those who obey the manager prosper, while those who do not perish. That is only the basic version. Some middle managers have even developed a culture in which editors do the work, editors take the blame, and managers take the credit. Some of the more extreme ones spread false information to smear editors or use their influence to force people out. Some middle managers are so uninhibited that they pursue office romances, destroy other people’s marriages, and even end up acting as someone else’s surrogate father or mother.

10. The office environment is atrocious beyond description. Every summer, the air conditioning breaks down at least once, without exception, and the repairs are so slow that you will become furious. The office floor is always damaged; even if the company asks you to report it for repair, the problem returns within a week of being fixed. The restrooms are small, dirty, and smelly, and when something breaks, the repair speed is comparable to that of the air conditioning. There is cleaning time every week, but it is unclear whether the company cannot afford to hire cleaners or simply wants to exploit employees. There is actually very little to clean, but there are never enough cleaning tools for the office staff, and most people use the cleaning period to chat, making it seem like a large-scale farce.

Conclusion: As I continued writing about the disadvantages, there turned out to be far more than I had imagined. There should be quite a few people who have experienced the same things as I have, and there are also plenty who have had it worse. Those currently employed or who have seen the light and resigned are welcome to continue adding to this. Thank you for reading this far. I hope this can provide some help to those still observing before an interview, deciding after an interview whether to join, or still in the pit of fire and hesitating about whether to leave.

1. Taking leave is easy

2. Relatively few rules and procedures (similar companies in the same industry tend to micromanage, which makes people feel constrained)

3. Some managers are fairly warm and humane

4. Not many annoying, time-wasting team-building activities or absurd competitions

5. Starting salaries are considered high in Tainan (high compared with other companies in the same industry and most jobs in the city; suitable for experienced people changing jobs)

6. Suitable for people with a strong M disposition who like the textbook publishing industry and dislike complicated environments

(I've worked at several companies in the same industry, and I've encountered both terrible and good managers. Only those who like this industry can stay. Schools [and the sales department] are difficult to deal with, so high turnover is normal. Publishers of the same type are more or less the same.)

7. The Tainan restrooms have been renovated. Now, during interviews, if someone needs to borrow the restroom, they won't be scared away.

8. The subject-specific editorial designers are very professional and relatively down-to-earth compared with those at other companies in the same industry.

9. Talent is what matters. Age and seniority are not considered; ability and ambition are. The company can be said to give people opportunities.

10. The company is fairly willing to rehire former employees and continue employing retirees.

11. Even among the relatives and favorites of the owners, some are reserved and good-natured; most colleagues simply do not interact with them.

1. The downside of having few rules and procedures is that there are too few rules and procedures.

After the third generation took over, there is a major upheaval every year. People who do not have strong nerves or sufficiently strong ambitions cannot stay.

2. Managers decide on salary increases based on their mood. You only have a chance of getting a raise if you are in a unit or program the company values, or if your manager likes you (obvious?

3. It is a high-hours, mentally demanding job. When you encounter a bad manager or colleague, it can be very painful (obvious!

4. The third generation really likes developing new businesses. It is difficult to cope without three heads and six arms and a high EQ.

5. Finding images is very inconvenient, and a lot of time is often wasted searching for them (although H company is the only one in the industry with a comprehensive image library system; everyone who has worked there misses it).

It seems there aren't any.

1. Senior management only talks and does not actually do anything. They only look at the results, not the process. So when something goes wrong, you have to take the blame yourself. Also, because of the recent pandemic, senior management couldn't go out for “social engagements,” so they held “social engagement meetings” directly in the company's meeting rooms instead, and afterward required employees to clean up. It was truly outrageous.

2. They also use the pretext of company downsizing, verbally saying, “The new curriculum has come to an end, so there is no extra work to assign,” in order to lay you off. In reality, it's more like, “Your salary is too high, and you have no further value to us. Get out!” It's a disposable, use-you-and-throw-you-away mentality.

3. There is no overtime pay, and working overtime beyond regular hours is the norm. Many people often work until midnight or even dawn. If you ask for overtime pay, they will use “You are under a responsibility-based work system” to shut you down. In reality, all of this is illegal, and they have never reported the responsibility-based employees to the competent authorities.

4. Most supervisors are idiots or incompetent; there are very few capable ones—probably few enough to count on one hand. All day long, they only use forms to chase you for progress or change insignificant errors, while failing to catch the actual mistakes. They also routinely outsource proofreading and error-checking to external teachers, but the teachers they find are just as incompetent. Basically, the things they identify are either correct as originally written or the teachers themselves calculated them incorrectly.

5. A cadre at a certain location in southern Taiwan was even more incompetent. They said they wanted to change something, but when it caused a problem, they simply pushed the blame onto the editor in charge, resulting in the editor's salary being docked and even their performance rating being lowered. In the end, the editor was forced to resign. (Then they hired someone new again.)

6. There is absolutely no such thing as training. You have to figure everything out yourself, and whenever you make a mistake or cause a problem, they put the blame directly on you. They cannot retain experienced employees, and the turnover rate is extremely high.

7. The performance evaluation system is completely opaque. You have no idea what your performance rating is, so everything is decided by the people above you.

In short, after staying there for quite a long time and seeing all sorts of things at Nan-I, all I can say is that Nan-I is beyond saving. Fresh graduates should absolutely not come here; anywhere else would be better than Nan-I.

I can't think of any advantages this company has.

This is a sixty-year-old company, yet its performance both internally and externally is a complete mess!

The editorial department in the north might as well close down… The new textbooks haven't even finished their third year, and they already plan never to revise them again in the future. These are all core junior-high-school subjects. I don't know whether any teachers will see this, but if you're planning to choose Naniyi textbooks, they won't be revised again, either now or in the future!

Internally, all you can do is shake your head. The great big boss, a certain senior executive, and the northern editorial “senior management” (oh, and a consultant whose function is unclear) regularly spent Tuesday evenings drinking and carousing before the pandemic broke out. They called it “deepening discussions about work with colleagues,” but everyone who was required to attend knew it was simply “drinking as company,” followed by watching them get drunk, lose control, and make fools of themselves… Several times, they drank so much that the police came to check on the situation.

As for that northern editorial executive, besides drinking, his greatest skill is probably downsizing and “dealing with” people… However, his method of “dealing with” people seems to be limited to telling a frontline supervisor to “talk” to the person who is to be dealt with, while he himself merely “says” what needs to be said! His standard is that people must be useful to him: whatever he says goes. But if something goes wrong, sorry—the blame is yours to bear.

I strongly advise newcomers not to join this company. Once you leave, you'll find that it is completely different from the outside world, meaning that what you learn can only be used at this company… At this rate, though, it is hard to be optimistic about the company's future.

None

The job application website stated a salary of 23,000–28,000.

When they called, I asked about it first, but they said it would be discussed during the interview. Then, during the interview, they bluntly said that I could only receive the basic wage. Do they think my certifications are just plastic?

Going to the interview was a complete waste of my time.

None

The Labor Standards Act doesn’t actually have anything called a “probationary period,” but on your first day, HR will ask you to sign a fixed-term employment contract~

The content basically means a three-month probationary period (the company can ask you to leave unconditionally).

If the Labor Standards Act doesn’t actually have a probationary period, then why sign it?

The supervisor and HR both said, “This is just a routine company procedure. Signing it doesn’t mean we’ll really ask you to leave~”

The seating area is very old, and the drawers are already rusty.

A relatively senior employee in the customer service section of the elementary school division (she’s sort of the team lead, but her position is still customer service—not a supervisor)

constantly nags other colleagues (who have less seniority than her).

She even nags newcomers who have only been there for a month.

If someone doesn’t proactively call to “order lunch” that day, she can go on about it for several sentences....

The entire office becomes incredibly awkward....

In short, it’s hard to concentrate on work in this kind of atmosphere because you’re constantly hearing her nagging about all sorts of things,

but they’re all just trivial matters.

As for the salary, it’s the base salary + 700 for perfect attendance.

After passing the probationary period, +1000.

It’s even lower than the editorial department’s.

Chang Hong's facade is quite beautiful.

Nan Yi's southern factory is very ugly, looking roughly like an office from twenty or thirty years ago. The interviewing supervisor was a very slick person. Knowing that you had come down from northern Taiwan, he immediately said that they had previously had someone else come from the north as well, then asked whether that person had received a housing stipend—an indirect way of saying that they do not provide accommodation. The supervisor showed some contempt toward people who did not understand the reference-book industry; you had to argue your case forcefully before he would consider you valuable. Simply put, they could be considered a sunset industry: for each book, the government only provides the officially set printing price. The art editor's work has to take teachers' opinions into account, while the business supervisor has to consider the opinions of a large number of people, making changes again and again before the deadline. The interviewer looked down on people who did not have their own ideas, but he answered questions indirectly, making him seem very self-important.

The atmosphere among colleagues is good. Overtime or compensatory leave follows the Labor Standards Act. Typhoon days off are granted. There is a perfect attendance bonus. Uniforms are not required. The environment is simple and uncomplicated.

There are no benefits; there are no bonuses or company trips for the three major holidays.

The year-end bonus is usually only about one month’s salary.

There are almost no salary increases, no matter how long your tenure.

The starting salary is low (NT$24,000–25,000); master’s degree holders earn NT$1,000 more than bachelor’s degree holders.

The workload is heavy, and overtime is common.

Most supervisors live in their own worlds.

Editors have many business-related duties in addition to editing work.

They exploit employees relentlessly and do not try to retain them; there will always be more cheap new hires anyway.

Overtime pay is provided (but the base salary is low). On the day before Lunar New Year, you can leave once the thorough cleaning is finished before noon. Taking leave is not difficult, the atmosphere among colleagues is okay, and there are occasional group purchases. If you can stay, you can stay for a long time.

The chairs are uncomfortable.

The air-conditioning temperature is extremely inconsistent—it is either too cold or too hot.

In the morning, you cannot eat breakfast, comb your hair, or put on makeup.

Of the only two squat-free toilets in the women's restroom, neither can be used for defecation because they will become clogged.

I heard the men's restroom is very dirty and smelly.

There are no partitions between seats, so it is very cramped and there is nowhere to put things.

As for food, only a rice warmer, refrigerator, and hot-and-cold drinking water dispenser are provided. There are coin-operated snack and drink vending machines downstairs. You have to order delivery or go out to eat lunch (or dinner) yourself.

The salary is consistently very low, and there are no raises (there is only one raise after completing three months).

There is widespread buck-passing among departments (planning, sales, and editing).

Previously worked in the junior high school social studies department; colleagues were easy to get along with.

A word of advice to newcomers joining the Nani Junior High School Social Studies Editorial Department: there are sixteen characters to remember—especially bear this in mind: “Those who follow ‘me’ prosper; those who oppose ‘me’ perish; thereafter, one ‘Mei’ rules from behind the curtain!”

Remember—remember.

The future they offer is beautiful, and the ideals they present are inspiring.

Setting aside the seniors, the atmosphere among peers is pretty good.

The overall work atmosphere is terrible; the editorial department is like stagnant water.

Working overtime is the norm here. If you happen to pack up and leave on time, your seniors will become very quiet. Then the next day, they’ll come over in a friendly manner and ask, “Is everything okay with your progress?” No matter how you answer, the ending is always a bad ending.

Moreover, Nanyi is a private company, so there are often a bunch of people who got in through connections. They don’t do any work but love to put on airs, so be careful not to offend anyone casually. A certain high-ranking official’s relative goes elsewhere all day to order boxed lunches (Nanyi does not provide meals or allowances; employees have to order their own food, and it must not affect their work progress, okay?). If someone refuses to order for him, he gets angry and says he’ll “handle it through official channels.”

To be honest, after he “handled it through official channels,” I didn’t feel any difference at all. Maybe later, the department that refused to order boxed lunches for him will be removed using his connections, hehe.

This place is more suitable for young people who are just passing through or who are not afraid of hardship. Personally, I can’t recommend it.

Learned editorial work skills.

The salary was within an acceptable range.

1. There was no training at all when I joined the company, and I was expected to get up to speed immediately. It was not until my second month at the company that I went to Tainan for two days of training.

2. The colleagues in Tainan were not very easy to get along with, and they even said they hoped a new employee with the same type of background would join. They often made things difficult for us. I had previously heard that a new colleague in Tainan had been harassed because they were not from the relevant academic field and eventually resigned. Instead of showing sympathy, the Tainan colleagues kicked them while they were down.

3. When we were being harassed, the supervisor made it sound reassuring, saying that if we told him, he would speak to the Tainan colleagues on our behalf. In reality, he did nothing and even asked us new employees to leave.

4. When we were told to leave, the supervisor also said he would give us three days of job-search leave, but we were not given even one day. When we had interviews, we were also asked to provide proof of the interviews. We had originally thought that providing proof would qualify us for job-search leave, but not only were we not given the leave, the supervisor submitted it as personal leave, meaning we were given neither job-search leave nor pay for that leave.

5. At first, the supervisor made things sound very good, but when we were kicked out, he acted completely differently. While we were still at the company, he even asked us to speak up for him. He did not stand up for his own subordinates, yet he still expected his subordinates to help him.

In short, if you want to work as an editor, I suggest that you do not join this company. There are many publishing houses out there that are better than Nan I.

Thinking about it carefully, there really aren't any advantages.....

If I had to name one, it would probably be.......

After staying for three months, newcomers can develop an indestructible body—no matter what kind of nonsense or bullshit any company throws at you, nothing can defeat you.

If you believe your abilities are below mediocre, only want a paycheck to barely survive, and have no dignity or standards for yourself, then you should be able to keep doing this job.

The company atmosphere is awful, the environment is awful, and the overall space is extremely unfriendly to women. On my first day at the company, I was terrified by the restroom—the first time in my life I had seen a restroom growing moss...... It was filled with foul odors.

Then the stationery provided by the company was unbelievably useless and difficult to use. In the end, many people bought their own stationery to use at work. The company computers were also terrible; it felt like either the monitor, the computer, or the keyboard and mouse would be broken. The office space was also incredibly cramped, with barely room to put anything. There were no partitions in the work area at all, and supervisors would keep watch at any time to see whether you were slacking off. It was extremely disrespectful to employees. During lunch breaks, they also kept playing broadcasts. Once, the broadcast seemed to have been tuned to the wrong channel or had interference, turning into a radio station selling medicine or something similar. I heard that an employee complained about it on their personal Facebook, and the supervisor called to “check in,” demanding that the post be deleted because it was “bad for the company’s image”........ It was truly infuriating.

At this company, people who stand out too much get driven out or deliberately harassed, because supervisors do not like people they perceive as threats. As long as a supervisor dislikes you, your days consist of being berated three times a day. Even when you submit your resignation, they will laugh with other coworkers and say, “Could it be because we were too harsh when we berated them?” Then a whole group of people will continue laughing. If you endure and refuse to resign, they will think of every possible way to make trouble for you, and will also intentionally or unintentionally hint to other coworkers that they should ostracize you, forcing you to leave.

Work starts at eight. If you clock in at 7:55 and arrive at your seat at 8:10 to prepare for work, the supervisor will scold you for wasting company time, and will publicly humiliate you in meetings. Supervisors love to criticize everything you do, but if you follow their instructions and the results are poor, they refuse to take responsibility. They only make grandiose claims, bragging about having worked nearly 200 hours of overtime in the past and treating leaving work on time as a sin. In meetings, they will directly demand that you work overtime. Leaving at 19:30 is considered normal; leaving at 21:30 is considered a serious display of commitment. This kind of ridiculous logic is treated as sacred law at Nan-I. Overtime on holidays can only be exchanged for compensatory leave, not pay. Want payment instead? Congratulations—you will immediately become the center of attention. From department directors to lower-level supervisors, and even coworkers, everyone will come to “check in” on you, and in the end you will only be allowed to take compensatory leave. But if you take compensatory leave, people will make snide comments when you request time off. There is practically no time to rest, and you are also required to use it within three months; otherwise, the hours are simply donated to the company. Can't finish the work? Didn't you work 46 hours of overtime? Still can't finish? Why didn't you come in to work overtime on the holidays? Still can't finish? Did you take it home to do? Have you already logged 46 hours of overtime? The company never prohibited you from volunteering, did it? Still can't finish? Then we'll just deduct it from your performance evaluation!

As if the supervisors being difficult weren't enough, even coworkers may stab you in the back until you can no longer remain at the company. They also constantly badmouth coworkers, saying those coworkers are incompetent, but after all that, their own abilities are only average. They do this simply because the supervisor dislikes that coworker, and then acts behind the scenes against people in their own team.

There are countless disadvantages, and the company also dislikes you questioning it. Basically, they just eliminate the person who raises the problem, and then there is no problem. That must be this company's core value, right?

Supervisors often say, “The company's general manager studied in the United States and says he follows an American style.” Yet they will eliminate an entire department just because they think it is not profitable, treating employees like freeloaders, while creating a bunch of redundant positions. They also think that because employees receive their salaries from him, employees should fulfill all his demands. The chairman's relatives are in the company, and they treat themselves like emperors and employees like lowly subjects. If employees look unhappy, they humiliate them, treating employees as if they were not human at all.

There are no particular benefits beyond what is required by the Labor Standards Act.

Occasionally, business trips are required on Sundays, and everyone may even be asked to provide support on national holidays, yet the company is unwilling to proactively pay reasonable overtime. The company uses “guidance” and “encouragement” to tell you to take compensatory leave instead, so you essentially cannot freely choose whether you want overtime pay or compensatory leave.

Tainan art editor position

During the interview, they say the starting salary is 2x K, and that based on performance and ability, it can increase by 3K to 5K (still under 30K after the increase), but in reality, it never reaches that amount.

You must not perform too well or too poorly there; you can only be as mediocre as a robot while doing many tasks. The company will issue an announcement saying, “Starting today, overtime begins.” Until a cancellation announcement is issued, even if you finish your work for the day, you still have to work at least half an hour of overtime.

The office is located in a historic building, and the restroom smells astonishingly bad. The hallway connecting the office to the restroom and the pantry are filled with a rather strange odor. I assume it is a combination of the steam heating cabinet and the restroom smell, but the odor is so peculiar that every time I passed by, I wondered how the people in this company managed to survive.

Finally, if you really want to try working as an art editor, and you can accept earning less than 30K after five years, as well as the building’s strange odor, and can avoid standing out too much in your work, this is a very stable job. Although the group-order lunch boxes are terribly unappetizing, the job is genuinely very stable—even your salary is stably never adjusted.