桔禾創意整合有限公司

The company takes on a wide variety of projects, and its reputation has been growing.

The owner, Mr. Chang, actually knows what he’s doing and is very good at PR and building relationships.

The recent projects, for example, have had high visibility and are ones everyone has heard of.

Being able to participate in them is basically very helpful for your portfolio.

When looking for your next job, your new boss will also recognize these projects.

After enduring this company’s “training,” you’ll be able to get up to speed easily elsewhere.

The prizes at the year-end banquet are quite good.

1. It is practically a family business; the management ranks are all insiders, so becoming a core manager would probably be difficult.

On the other hand, becoming an overworked low-level employee is extremely easy.

2. One person is expected to do the work of several people. Employees occasionally work overtime and stay up until dawn.

3. In the past, arriving late after clocking in meant having money deducted, while leaving time was subject to a “responsibility system.” Even if you worked until midnight, there was no overtime pay, in violation of the Labor Standards Act. I hear things have improved recently because of the one-fixed-day-off-and-one-flexible-rest-day policy.

4. Sometimes projects come in aggressively. Even when four or five people are clearly needed, only two people are assigned to do the work.

After employees work overtime and stay up all night, meetings a few days later may still involve asking them to reflect on why they stayed up late and failed to finish on time.

5. I heard that in the past, the owner thought the office used too much toilet paper and that it cost too much.

Employees were therefore limited to one roll of toilet paper per person per month; once it was used up, they had to provide their own.

5. Cleaning the studio is basically done by employees taking turns, like classroom duty. Sometimes, when things get busy and there is no time, they still have to scrub the toilets.

6. Salaries are kept as low as possible. They may give you a workload worth at least NT$50,000–80,000, but pay you less than NT$30,000—or even less.

7. The owner may ask you to help design his “ideas,” drawing sketches and forms for him to review and repeatedly revise.

When the final product is eventually completed, of course it bears his name; the employee is merely the hands and receives no credit,

even when you conceived and drew those lines and forms.

Likewise, those excellent projects may be created through your painstaking, all-night efforts and intense work,

but in the end they are credited to Mr. Chang or his insiders.

8. Fresh graduates entering the workforce may be hired at low wages to do work far beyond the scope of the position, with management acting as if this were perfectly normal.

Taking advantage of their unfamiliarity with labor law, the company may reduce pay during the so-called “probationary period” and provide no overtime pay.

Interns have school contracts, which offer somewhat more protection and make it less likely that things will go too far,

but they are treated almost like errand runners and disposable labor, and do not learn much.

9. Employees are required to participate in company-organized activities outside working hours (overtime pay is not a thing).

If you do not want to attend, Mr. Chang will even call you in for a talk.

10. The work is quite demanding. You often get off work very late, and the hours are unpredictable, leaving little time for yourself.

Maintaining a regular exercise routine or taking continuing-education classes is probably impossible, and you may even have to work on holidays.

11. In summary: The work is diverse, varied, and fun, but be mentally prepared for the salary, working hours, and level of hardship.