文案的美有限公司

Can encounter many unexpected challenges in the workplace

At a time when Taiwan’s MeToo movement was erupting, I saw the person in charge publish a post about their daughter’s bodily boundaries, which inevitably reminded me of a dream I had about this company.

The person in charge describes themself internally as feminine in personality and, compared with most heterosexual men, more capable of empathizing with women. In addition, since the company is almost entirely staffed by women, they frequently show excessive concern for employees’ private romantic lives, comment on employees’ clothing and makeup, and pester employees to follow them on social media (reportedly, they later discovered that an employee had created another account and angrily unfriended everyone).

In the course of daily work, when face-to-face communication is occasionally necessary, they would walk over to an employee’s seat and poke female employees on the shoulder or arm with a finger. Several colleagues expressed their shock and said they were startled at the time, but the person in charge brushed it off with laughter. Most colleagues, constrained by their status as employees and concerned that the person in charge was skilled at emotional manipulation and that speaking up might affect other colleagues, did not dare say anything further. This included the day employees left the company: the person in charge would proactively open their arms and ask for a hug or hold an employee’s hand. Most female colleagues also did not dare refuse, in the interest of parting on good terms. The most outrageous incident even involved holding a departing employee’s hand and rubbing it against their face.

During their time working at this company, more or less everyone experienced or witnessed these uncomfortable incidents. Watching the person in charge defend their daughter’s bodily autonomy, I cannot help but wonder: if they understand that even when a little girl has not said she dislikes it, one should not touch her body arbitrarily, how did they forget this principle when the setting shifted to the workplace—and forget that they themselves occupy the more powerful position in an unequal power relationship?

Good colleagues

The following is a dream I had. Many years later, I happened to hear that the boss had not changed at all, so I am sharing it here as a cautionary tale for everyone.

Subtitle: [Reported to the Taichung City Labor Bureau Twice]

One report concerned unpaid overtime, failure to sign employment contracts, and missing clock-in records. The case officer’s surname was Chang.

The boss even called to ask who had filed the report, but the person was not an employee—just a friend of an employee.

The other report concerned emotional bullying of employees.

As soon as the boss learned about the reports, they immediately posted in the group chat: “Why do I treat you all so well, and yet you treat me like this?”

Unfortunately, neither report was upheld.

Below is a list of the company boss’s classic behavior.

1. [Employment Contracts]

First,

The boss asked the current employees at the time to sign employment contracts retroactively. Needless to say, neither the dates nor the documents were genuine.

There was no clock-in system. On the surface, this meant everyone could freely choose their working hours, and people could leave early once they had finished their own tasks.

However, the boss never considered that the assignments they handed out had already exceeded a normal person’s workload.

As a result, many colleagues worked overtime at home or came to the office on weekends.

Second, the boss took pride in claiming to treat colleagues well and that the company offered conditions superior to those required by the Labor Standards Act. Yet when they suddenly wanted to downsize, they laid people off with only ten days’ notice, in accordance with the Labor Standards Act.

2. [Control of Overtime Hours and Working Time]

First, the boss once said during the morning meeting that employees should submit overtime claims. When the administrative staff helped other colleagues who had genuinely worked overtime fill in their hours, the boss then complained, “Why are you meddling?”—meaning they did not want to spend more money.

Second, poor time management: the boss could not accurately estimate each employee’s speed and efficiency in completing tasks, and therefore assigned inappropriate workloads.

3. [Emotional and Verbal Bullying and Blackmail]

First, while a new employee was away from their seat, the boss glanced at conversations between colleagues, apparently resenting the newcomer for not asking them for guidance, and therefore directly subjected the newcomer to emotional workplace bullying.

Second, the boss had said that employees were welcome to raise problems for discussion. The newcomer was too honest and admitted during a meeting that they had seen a psychologist. As a result, the boss nitpicked and singled them out until their resignation, and the other colleagues clearly noticed the different treatment.

Third, there were countless instances of emotional blackmail. The boss also published the book “I Hear You’re Starting a Business” without the employee’s consent, exploiting the employee for commercial purposes.

Fourth, the boss established a bizarre system of accountability, requiring employees to first self-reflect on whether they had dealt with problems proactively, rather than first examining why the problem had arisen in the first place.

Fifth, believing that an employee’s performance was inefficient, the boss would sit beside the employee’s workstation and stare at them, ostensibly to understand their difficulties, while watching them brainstorm creatively and produce copy. This caused the employee to seek medical attention due to poor physical and mental health.

Sixth, many employees often felt physically unwell and nauseated at work, and became dazed and unable to concentrate while riding their scooters. These symptoms are medically known as autonomic nervous system dysfunction. I heard that even years later, employees who had been bullied at the time still felt nauseated and unwell when they saw the boss.

4. [The So-Called Copywriting Expertise]

First, the boss did not understand the product-sales backend or how to read and analyze data, believing that their own writing style would sell a lot. In reality, the backend results were not as good as the boss imagined.

Second, the boss used punctuation incorrectly and claimed it was their personal writing style.

Third, the boss called themselves a copywriter and literary person, yet had “Nietzsche in Plain English” on the bookshelf and had never heard of Unitas or Qiu Miaojin.

5. [Other]

First, despite a colleague’s tendency to gain weight easily, the boss gave that colleague medication for excess body fat.

Second, the boss rarely came to the office to feed the cats and could not spend time caring for them. If a cat became ill, colleagues were expected to take the initiative and come in on weekends to administer medication.

Third, the boss took pride in the office having only the sound of typing, with everyone unfamiliar with one another and focused on their own work. They did not realize that this was simply because the boss had made the entire staff so repressed that they could not relax, be themselves, or maintain flexibility.

Good colleagues

The following is a dream-like account. Many years later, I happened to hear that the boss had not changed at all, so I am sharing it here as a warning and encouragement for everyone to remain vigilant.

Subtitle: [Reported to the Taichung City Labor Bureau Twice]

One report concerned unpaid overtime, failure to sign employment contracts, and missing clock-in records. The case officer’s surname was Chang.

The boss even called to ask who had filed the report, but the person was not an employee—it was a friend of an employee.

The other report concerned emotional bullying of employees.

As soon as the boss learned about the reports, they immediately posted in the group chat: “Why am I so good to you all, yet you treat me like this?”

Unfortunately, neither report was upheld.

Below is a list of the company boss’s classic behavior.

1. [Employment Contracts]

First,

The boss asked current employees at the time to sign employment contracts retroactively. Needless to say, neither the dates nor the documents were genuine.

There was no clock-in system. On the surface, this meant everyone could freely choose their start and finish times, and employees could leave early after finishing their own work.

However, the boss never considered that the assignments they gave out already exceeded a normal person’s workload.

As a result, many colleagues worked overtime at home or came to the company on weekends.

Second, the boss was proud of—and even claimed to be—very good to colleagues, and claimed that the company offered conditions better than those required by the Labor Standards Act. Yet when they suddenly wanted to downsize, they laid people off with ten days’ notice in accordance with the Labor Standards Act.

2. [Control of Overtime Hours and Scheduling]

First, the boss once said at a morning meeting that overtime hours should be submitted for overtime pay. However, when the administrative staff helped other colleagues who had genuinely worked overtime fill in their hours, the boss criticized them by asking why they were being so meddlesome (meaning they were making the boss spend more money).

Second, poor time management: the boss was unable to accurately estimate each employee’s work speed and efficiency in order to assign an appropriate workload.

3. [Emotional and Verbal Bullying and Blackmail]

First, while a new employee was away from their seat, the boss glanced at the content of conversations between colleagues, apparently resenting the new employee for not asking them for advice, and therefore directly subjected the new employee to emotional workplace bullying.

Second, the boss had said that employees were welcome to raise problems for discussion. The new employee was too honest and admitted during an interview that they had been seeing a psychologist. From then until their departure, the boss nitpicked and targeted them, and all the other colleagues clearly noticed the boss’s differential treatment.

Third, there were countless instances of emotional blackmail. The boss also published the book *I Heard You’re Starting a Business* without the employee’s consent, exploiting the employee for its content.

Fourth, the boss established a bizarre responsibility system, requiring employees to first self-criticize whether they had dealt with problems proactively, rather than first examining why the problem had arisen in the first place.

Fifth, believing that an employee’s performance and efficiency were inadequate, the boss would sit beside the employee’s seat and stare at them, euphemistically claiming to be understanding their difficulties while watching them develop creative ideas and produce copy. This caused the employee to seek medical attention due to poor physical and mental health.

Sixth, many employees often felt physically unwell and nauseated at work, and became dazed and unable to concentrate while riding their scooters. In medical terms, these symptoms are known as autonomic nervous system dysfunction. I heard that even after many years, employees who were bullied back then still feel nauseated and uncomfortable when they see the boss.

4. [The So-Called Copywriting Expertise]

First, the boss did not understand the product sales backend or how to read analytics data, believing that their own writing style would sell a lot. In reality, the backend performance was not as good as the boss imagined.

Second, the boss used punctuation incorrectly and claimed it was their personal writing style.

Third, the boss called themself a copywriter and a literary intellectual, yet had *Nietzsche in Translation* on the bookshelf and had never heard of Unitas or Chiu Miao-jin.

5. [Other]

First, a colleague had a tendency to gain weight, yet the boss gave that colleague medication for excess fat.

Second, the boss rarely came to the company to feed the cats and could not spend time caring for them. If a cat became ill, colleagues were expected to take the initiative to come in and administer medication on weekends.

Third, the boss proudly claimed that the only sound in the office during work hours was typing, and that everyone was unfamiliar with one another and focused on their own work. In reality, this was simply because the boss had made the entire staff so repressed that they could not relax and be themselves or maintain any flexibility.

There is a lot of negative information about this place, but those willing to trade their physical and mental health for the experience of honing their skills through the work might still consider it.

I work in企劃, and many people around me are fans of this copywriting master. In fact, one of my friends and my friend’s college roommate have both worked there. Since I once considered applying, I asked around and heard some things, then noticed that the operator’s Facebook posts seemed to suggest a strong case of split personality, haha. Every time I compare what my friends say actually happened (with screenshots as proof) with the operator’s public statements, I feel like this whole show is incredibly entertaining～～

According to people on the inside, quite a few former employees became so emotionally distressed after leaving that they eventually had to see a psychiatrist. The company’s only manager is extremely emotional and skilled at emotional blackmail. They frequently sigh loudly and bang on the keyboard forcefully, keeping employees in a constant state of tension. They also treat their own emotional behavior as part of the company culture and expect employees to be understanding, and even wrote a book complaining that their employees did not understand their good intentions and seeking sympathy. Some scenes in the book also do not match what actually happened.

They are also extremely impatient when training employees. Whenever they become emotional or suddenly decide to criticize an employee, their tone becomes very unpleasant, and they give examples that are highly unconstructive and abstract. Encountering a patient operator seems to require the level of burning incense and praying for blessings. Problems they cannot think of a solution to or are too lazy to face are often casually dumped on employees as “training.”

There have also been cases where clients were dissatisfied with copy written by the operator, and the operator ignored their usual demands regarding employees’ work attitudes and hastily ended the collaboration with the client through slick wording (I suspect they were also relying partly on their reputation to make the client afraid to say more).

Recently, I started seeing friends in the industry reposting job openings from this company again. The content on 104 keeps switching between “benefits galore” and “the work is extremely exhausting.” Unless the boss changes, this turnover rate probably will not change either.

As for the manager flying into a rage when employees submitted overtime forms, or emotionally bullying current employees after being reported for violating the Labor Standards Act, there is simply too much to say, so I will leave it at that. One piece of advice: if you have doubts about a company you are considering interviewing with, try finding a way to ask current or former employees. You will really discover many little stories～^^