Sources and scope
This page collects workplace experiences, questions and discussions submitted by users. Dates shown are submission dates, not periods of employment. Individual reports do not describe the entire company.
Read the community guidelines1. Most colleagues are easy to get along with
2. There is a dedicated cleaning team, so the environment is clean and the restrooms are very clean
1. Overtime is routine; finishing work at 8–9 p.m. is the norm, and overtime requests may even be blocked
2. Relationships between hierarchical levels are distant, team cohesion is lacking, and the department atmosphere is poor
3. Beware of workplace PUA
4. I hope the data-entry interface in the ERP system can have its tab order rearranged. Please be user-friendly.
There aren't really any advantages.
The work situation is more or less as described above. To add to that, it's best to have worked at the head office before being sent there; the pay and the level of respect you receive will be very different. Don't accept an overseas assignment right from the start—most people are sent there to be hung out to dry, and when they come back, they still have to pay a breach-of-contract penalty.
You definitely need to know how to look busy. If the people above you notice that you're not very busy, prepare to be targeted.
Unless you're assigned by the head office, you won't be taken seriously. For example, before a plant is shut down, they'll find all kinds of excuses to make things difficult for you and berate you until you no longer want to do the job.
The relationship between expatriate executives and executives of the same nationality is good.
1. Basically, you can completely ignore the job duties listed in the upward career application. Once you are assigned overseas, you will be randomly placed wherever there is a vacancy.
2. There is no company shuttle to and from Ho Chi Minh City every Sunday. A certain number of people must request round-trip transportation before one is provided, and the return time cannot be later than 4 p.m. The one-way trip from the factory to Ho Chi Minh City already takes two hours, so basically you go to Ho Chi Minh City for lunch and then have to prepare to return to the company—everything is rushed.
3. Be sure to record the HR interview. HR is very good at making grand promises when recruiting you, but once you arrive locally, none of them materialize. Promotion opportunities and salary increases are virtually nonexistent. Unless you are a relative of someone influential, anyone and everyone can come and order you around. When you try to negotiate a salary adjustment after completing two years of work, it is like throwing a stone into the sea.
4. There are clearly many cooks, yet the meals hardly vary. There are only a few dishes to eat; the rest are unappetizing, overly salty, and carelessly prepared. You even start to wonder whether an entire jar of salt and MSG is used to cook each meal.
5. They will always tell you that the company is not making money. No matter how many orders you complete, the year-end bonus remains the same. Apart from the eunuch-like people who whisper slander into the ears of those in power, everyone else receives a smaller year-end bonus than expected. Although discussing salaries is prohibited, how much can they really hide about the year-end bonuses?
6. There are factions within the company, but this is unavoidable in a traditional-industry company and is still more or less tolerable.
7. Basically, the company's benefits have been reduced to the year-end bonus and the red envelope given at the start of work after the New Year. Do not believe any additional benefits HR promises you, because they are just empty consolation; most of them no longer exist.
8. Overtime is the norm. If you finish your own work and leave on time, you will be mocked by people who do not work during regular hours but only start working when they work overtime, as if not working overtime means you have done nothing.
9. Communication between Taipei and Vietnam is highly problematic. The Taipei side demands that everything be done without any buffer period: they want it immediately, regardless of how much work you already have. They are extremely unreasonable and have a poor attitude.
Basically, newcomers are strongly advised not to join this company because it will not help your future résumé. Unless you are sufficiently good at pretending not to notice things and have a tough personality, most people will resign because they are not suited to the job. The people currently remaining overseas are either long-term employees who no longer want to move on, or relatives of influential people. Think carefully before joining.
I can't think of any other disadvantages for now
1. Guohua Enamel Garment Machinery Industrial Co., Ltd. is the Taiwan branch of Samoan company Guangli Industrial Co., Ltd.; many colleagues are employed under different companies.
2. Current colleagues said that the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival bonuses were later not paid on time and were only paid at the end of the year. I don't know whether this has improved.
3. The job website mentioned movie appreciation events, department gatherings, and Family Day, but I never encountered any of these being held.
4. Colleagues who went on business trips said there was no business-trip allowance, and this was not disclosed during interviews. Don't expect an annual company dinner either.
5. If payday falls on a holiday, payment is deferred until the next working day. My current company pays early in such cases.
6. After being accepted in the interview process, there was no offer letter, only a phone notification. If problems arose, there would be no evidence to protect oneself. I don't know whether this has changed.
7. There were no promotion opportunities or salary adjustments. During the several years I worked there, my salary was never adjusted. The salary I received upon joining remained the same until I resigned; they might only discuss your salary when you submitted your resignation.
8. Expatriate employees could only receive the local salary, while labor and health insurance had to be handled personally. Those serving as management trainees had to remain in training for a very long time. The factory dormitory was old, with two people per room and no personal space. The turnover rate among expatriate employees was extremely high.
9. You only know whether a system is easy to use after changing companies. Guohua's system seemed to have been written by the engineers themselves, so problem resolution was very slow. My current company uses DINGCHA, which is much better to use.
10. The hardware engineers in Taipei were very nice, but the software staff had an unpleasant tone. Only after leaving did I realize that there was not much wrong with my own perspective. I was almost corrected to the point of questioning my life and having my worldview affected.
Therefore, there are many better companies out there. I strongly do not recommend this one.
The company regulations are finally starting to align with the Labor Standards Act.
1. There are far too many relatives and well-connected people, from senior management down to the managerial level, so naturally the workload has to be shared by everyone else.
2. This is a company that is extremely unfriendly toward ordinary frontline employees and assistants. Some managers are exceptionally incompetent. The principle that “if you are in the right, you can prevail anywhere” does not apply here, and senior management only listens to what managers say—they never ask ordinary employees. At least, no one asked any of us before I left.
3. Some senior colleagues are really unpleasant to deal with.
Some colleagues are very easy to get along with
1. There is no comprehensive training
2. They are highly skilled at shirking responsibility
3. It is a company where supervisors come first, and quite a few of the supervisors’ friends and relatives have also been brought in, so you need to keep your eyes open
4. The system is outdated, yet MIS acts extremely cocky
Most colleagues are easy to get along with.
Taking the Vietnam factory as an example:
1. The location is remote, an hour and a half from Ho Chi Minh City.
2. The salary is low, and raises are slow.
3. The workday is 9 hours plus a 1-hour lunch break. On Saturdays, it ends one hour earlier; some departments often require overtime.
4. The turnover rate among Taiwanese staff is high.
5. They say you get 9 days of leave to return to Taiwan, but it is actually only 8 days because they count one Sunday against you, and there is no annual leave.
6. Just take the job description before joining with a grain of salt; they simply assign you wherever there is an opening.
7. The company’s systems are outdated, and the Taipei MIS team is extremely difficult to deal with.
8. The dormitory quality and factory environment are poor.
9. During leave, flights are restricted to round trips to Taiwan.
10. There is no training, yet when something goes wrong, they push the blame onto you.
11. You have to sign a two-year contract. Only consider coming if you have run out of options.
Most managers belong to the “royal relatives and aristocrats” clique, so getting promoted requires knowing how to seek their favor and perform for them.
1. Some senior colleagues have an excessively high opinion of themselves.
2. Managers like to frequently change employees’ positions and rotate them through jobs with different responsibilities.
3. The system of shifting blame is extremely powerful.
4. Excessive overtime is the norm; under the responsibility-based system, there is no overtime pay.
5. The training system is extremely incomplete.
No pros
The factories for overseas positions provide no training whatsoever; if something goes wrong, they directly blame the new employees. Management of Taiwanese supervisors is inflexible, and the living conditions in the dormitories are poor.