2022 Jan 28 is my last day at Foxconn.
From August 2019 to January 2022, from an Android programmer to a cloud computing developer, from a junior software engineer to a senior, from a naive boy to an attentive man, from engaged to single. (yes, I am available)
In this article, I will talk about why I came and left Foxconn (the branch in Kaohsiung city), some details about this job and company like office culture, salary, and what I’ve learned from this working experience.
Why I Came Here?
Well, I came here just because I want to work in my hometown, that’s it. This is my second full-time job, my first is in New Taipei city, it’s in northern Taiwan, I rented a small room, lived there, and worked for a smartphone manufacturer - Arima Communications. I had a girlfriend at that time, so we were in a long-distance relationship, it’s not something romantic trust me, I took high-speed rail home twice a month to meet my love and family. Every day I walked on the street in Taipei after work, I hear my home calling, every time I say goodbye to her at the train station, I feel like I must come back someday in the future. So when the contract end date is coming, I decided to come back and started sending resumes and interviewing. Fortunately, I got a job offer from Foxconn, the branch in Kaohsiung, the location and the pay are perfect for me, so I came here.
About Foxconn Kaohsiung
This is the main building of Foxconn Kaohsiung built in 2016, 14 floors in total, I don’t know how many floors underground since I’ve never been there.
The lobby is stunning. My office is on the top floor and the view is fantastic, I do love watching the landscape of Kaohsiung harbor from the balcony.
There are several divisions in this building, such as server manufacturing, data engineering. And I worked in the cloud computing division and we are divided into multiple departments based on the project we are working on. In the first two years, I focused on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure(VDI) but in the final half-year, I was transferred to a new project that is making data platform for data scientists.
My Favorite Part
I would say the office culture, we seldom work overtime, the general working hour is from 8 am to 5:30 pm, 1.5 hours of lunch break included. You must know Taiwan is the 4th most work hours country in the world in 2020. But it’s not easy to see people stay after 6 here. And most managers and colleagues are open-minded, we like sharing knowledge and coding experiences with each other, and the meetings are always effective, I mean no one would use irrational or offensive words, and I’ve never seen any supervisor would be stubborn as a mule at assembly. It’s definitely a good thing to see.
Salary
When I was applying for this job, I have a computer science master degree and three years of experience in software development, I got the job offer with a monthly salary of 52 thousand NT dollars, and two months of guaranteed bonus, which means my annual salary is 720 thousand NT dollars. I have some extra bonus actually but that isn’t signed on the contract, it’s not something I could expect to receive. Anyway, my total income last year is about 800 thousand NT dollars.
What I Don’t Like
I don’t like the policy about pay raises and promotions since after working for 30 months, my monthly salary doesn’t change at all. The pay raise isn’t based on the efforts or contributions of each person, is based on the time, the company gives employees a pay raise every 3 to 5 years, aperiodically. They don’t actively give pay raises. As well as the job grade, the opportunity of climbing to the next level isn’t be evaluated by your productivity but the time. The system sees a senior as how long they work for the company rather than how much value they create for the project. I know one extremely hard-working colleague has gotten promotions quicker than normal cases, but it’s the only one I’ve seen.
There is almost no difference between a hard worker and a general worker.
Why I Left?
Nothing special, really, I didn’t get a job with higher pay or a better title, I just have another plan, it’s something I would like to do for many years, and I’ve finally got the chance to achieve it, so I quitted.
What I’ve Learned?
As I mentioned, I want to work in Kaohsiung, but I didn’t think too much about my career, what I suppose to do now and future. I still remember that in the first six months of being a cloud engineer at Foxconn, I had lots of challenges and feel stressed, there are several factors like the task I’ve never tried, the expectation of the manager, the deadline. This is the first time I really get into trouble at work, I mean I seriously feel that I might be fired, I had insomnia and sometimes I don’t even want to go to work. There is one time I took a half-day leave and sat in the park, put the unopened breakfast on the bench, and consider why I should go to work? What is the purpose of work? What do I want to get from work? Wealth, a title, a set of skills, or pay the bill? I don’t know. I didn’t set an objective before I went there, so when I have frustration at work, I lose myself.
Always Set An Objective
After that day, I set an objective for the following year, and then keep the goal in mind, try my best to insist on and achieve it. It doesn’t matter whether you fail or succeed, the objective is something to remind you why you come here originally and don’t forget why you started, it’s like a memo to push you to keep going and don’t give up too early. I found that really helps in fighting negative thinking and job burnout. Besides, someday you realize you’ve finished your goal or you can’t complete that in this company, you will absolutely know what you should do next. You won’t waste your time on meaningless work.
See you, Foxconn Kaohsiung!
