Tech Company Nonsense

This is all too common in companies here, times have toughened and profits have sunk. Instead of adapting and moving into higher margin products, they combat the drop in profits by penny pinching anything they can. In the end it is a matter of time before these companies fold. I believe many of the management of these companies are nearing retirement and don’t want to risk any changes, so they continue in the old ways hoping it will last them out. As long as there is no trouble for them and they continue to be able to receive a pay check, there is no ambition to do any better. It is sad that many of these companies will fold and for the next generation who are working in the lower positions.

I do not have experience in what to look for in electronics or hardware companies, but I would suggest looking for a company that was started overseas and is not headed by a Taiwanese.

3 Likes

Well then, get to it - you’re in high-tech, work the system. The first thing I’m going to do as a western employer is look you up on Google…do you show up for (yourname.com) on the first page of results?
In today’s global marketplace you have to show/demonstrate what makes you different and thereby deserving of higher pay…think Starbucks - its just another cup of coffee - right…

yessir! At least, my URL and its assocated social media pages do. My name comes up at the bottom of page 2 if googled directly.

If you create a blog (under yourname.com) and post once a week you’ll move up! You really don’t have to write much, just curate & post stuff you find interesting relating to your skills/industry. If you use WP you could spend a weekend curating posts and then schedule them to go out weekly for the whole year (a little work, but worth the effort). Google loves new content!

2 Likes

damn, I bought those monitors all the time! Great quality!
Now, I have two Asus monitors but I have good memories from using them.

A lot of the time senior management are family and related and they own massive amounts of shares. These shares churn out a lot of dividends (nice low tax rate in Taiwan) and of course they can pay themselves huge bonuses and salaries too (ever notice the way Hon Hai’s and many companies stock price may be in the shitter but dividends are paid). So it doesn’t matter if the company is in zombie mode as long as it is ticking along backed by its creditors. See Chunghwa Picture Tubes as an example. Many of the loans are from state banks, if the company collapses bad debts have to go on the bank books, therefore they often just roll over the loans.
I don’t know about V-C specifically but there are loads of companies operating in this manner.

2 Likes

yawn. what a great insight… ahum…

If directed me thanks…yawn…Now I’m off to take a dump

60k is what I got paid 10 years ago in my first job after arriving in Taiwan, teaching 4-5 hours a day at a cramschool with 0 experience.

Why on earth would anyone take a fulltime (8 hours a day) tech job, when it pays you less than a newcomer throwing a sticky ball around?

Also you must realize that in Taiwan the standard pay is 14 months of salary.

So it may seem low at first but you’re paid more than 12 months a year so it’s a little higher than it seems. That and also companies sometimes underdeclare wages to cheat on taxes (ask your accountant about this, you can end up saving a little bit here. Accountants in Taiwan are actually not paid to keep the book, but to help the company cheat on taxes to help them save money).

1 Like

Cause some people have dignity and don’t want to teach ESL

1 Like

Because ten years later you could be a semi employed alcoholic earning less than you do now or somebody earning multiples of that original 60k a month. The choice is yours.

Since you are usually guaranteed 14 month pay annually, 60K works out to about 70K.

New grad school graduates in non-semiconductor related tech companies have an average salary of 46K. You tend to get 60K when you’ve been working for at least 5 years at that company and have risen through the ranks.

That being said, if they are hiring you for more than your professional skills, they definitely should set you up higher.

Deleted

Deleted

I’m happy to hear that has been your experience…

That said, I’m not sure who you’ve been working for, but 14 months is by no means standard, nor is tax cheating, at least in my experience. I’ve worked at a number of Taiwanese companies at this point, all with 13 months and a steady stream of insultingly lowball offers/raises. My coworker recently hit 2 years at my company and got a measly 2000 NT raise. Bah!

Isn’t this case in point? The wage economy here is so poor that it takes 5 years to get what is, essentially, a livable wage in Taipei. Those 5 years in your example equate to $460 USD or 14K NT, or rather, still not enough to live by oneself.

All in all, here’s my question - what’s gone so wrong in the economy that this has become the case? Moreover, how are locals making 46K NT able to afford their lifestyles. I get that many here live with their parents, but the pricy restaurants, car dealerships, gogoros, and shopping districts aren’t frequenting themselves…

1 Like

I don’t know. I never really worked for companies because I’m not good with politics, but this is what I hear from what people say and also from attending some job interviews. 14 months is fairly standard, but some can go lower, like only 12 months with no bonus. Not all employers are good obviously.

But there must be a lot of stuff not reported on wages, but also rent is low here because the market can’t support higher rent.

I read a research report before that .5 months is actually the average of bonuses in Taiwan. But I think most full time salaries are structured on 13 months basic premisein Taiwan, but many employers will try to cheat foreigners and give you 12 months, you need to look at the the annual pay full number.

Government related banks and government jobs are almost all 14 or 15 months minimum (when govt workers and not contract workers ), but these jobs are closed off to foreigners so you wont be able to access them. You need to pass the civil servant exams or know somebody in the banks or the semi state companies to get hired. They do not hire foreigners as a rule.

Electronics companies will also pay many months extra bonus but depends on the earnings.

Traditional small companies are quite mean they hardly pay any bonus.

Mostly family money because they are living rent free.
Some cases they are relatively high earners…But yeah…It’s frustrating society is like that.
There’s lots of well off people (families ) in Taiwan especially in the Taipei metro area.
A lot of them their parents were government workers (retire with generous pensions ) and they have multiple properties.

Isn’t it obvious? Many people get paid much more than that, you just don’t necessarily know them, besides the fact that this (shit) company used to be one of the largest CRT monitor producers in the world is pretty telling.

Or they own their own business.