A job posting for a Taiwan-based factory appeared this week in multiple places. A company is seeking factory workers to put together components, and the ad targets Philippine people (most of whom speak English fluently) with college educations.
Taiwanese people and foreigners have been mocking it for its sexism, low pay and ludicrous working conditions. The posters and company are so shameless that they have made no attempt to change the posting or address the criticisms. And yet the sad truth is, many Filipinas will be lining up and to apply for it.
The pay is underwhelming, to say the least. By law, the minimum wage in Taiwan is NT$23,100 per month (US$765, C$1018). NT$23,800 is PHP40,000. That might do well in the Philippines, but here it’s barely enough to survive, even if contract workers live in dorms (which they usually do). Most company dorms have curfew, so the employees usually do little more than work 5-6 days per week, shop for food on Saturdays and then party on Sunday afternoons. (I’ve been to a couple of these Sunday matinee bars, they’re loud and wild.)
Earn as much as NT23, 800 or P40+++ plus OVERTIME!!!
The “qualifications” are a mixed bag. Some make sense (e.g. no Colour Vision Deficiency, if working with transistors or other colour coded items; no sweaty hands, if working in a moisture sensitive environment), while others are utterly ludicrous (e.g. how do tattoos affect working?). Do I need to tell you that “no left handers” made me roll my eyes?
Qualifications:
- 20-30 years old / female
- 157 cm above in height
- Weight limit is proportion to height
- With related factory experience
- College graduate
- Good in math
- 20/20 vision no colorblind
- No sweaty hands / no lefthanded
- No tattoo
The body judgement and the potential for sexual harassment is what irked most people.
A screen shot of the original job posting and full text of the ad are below the fold.
Here is the full text of the original job posting:
URGENT HIRING FOR FEMALE
NO PLACEMENT FEE!!!FORMOSA ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD
YUNLIN TAIWAN!Please report to the office EVERY MONDAYS TO FRIDAYS
9:00AM for application and Line up!Earn as much as NT23, 800 or P40+++ plus OVERTIME!!!
QUALIFICATIONS:
• 20-30 YEARS OLD / FEMALE
• 157 CM ABOVE IN HEIGHT
• WEIGHT LIMIT IS PROPORTION TO HEIGHT
• FIRST TIME TO WORK ABROAD
• WITH RELATED FACTORY EXPERIENCE
• COLLEGE GRADUATE
• GOOD IN MATH
• 20/20 VISION NO COLORBLIND
• NO SWEATY HANDS / NO LEFTHANDED
• NO TATTOOREQUIREMENTS:
• PEOS CERTIFICATE
• PASSPORT ( 2 YRS VALIDITY)
• SSS UNIFIED ID / SSS CERTIFICATE ( MAIN BRANCH OR POEA BRANCH)
• PSA BIRTH CERT w/ RECEIPT
• SCHOOL CREDENTIALS
• CERTIFICATE OF EMPLOYMENTJAPAN MARUKO INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
POEA-028-LB-021215-R
14th FLR. DE LEON CENTER BLDG.1151 M.H DEL PILAR ST. COR. NUESTRA SRA. DE GUIA ST. ERMITA MANILA
CONTACT NO: 0917-8081060 / 0998-5947863FOR MANPOWER POOLING ONLY- NO FEE’S TO BE COLLECTED
Earn as much as NT23, 800 or P40+++ plus OVERTIME!!!
Qualifications:
• 20-30 years old / female
• 157 cm above in height
• Weight limit is proportion to height
• With related factory experience
• College graduate
• Good in math
• 20/20 vision no colorblind
• No sweaty hands / no lefthanded
• No tattoo
And the screenshot of the facebook posting:
As a person who needs to wear glasses, I would feel annoyed about this one too.
“No left handers” is not unexpected if work stations are designed exclusively for right dominant dexterity. Redesigning tooling for a minority costs money and clearly the employer wants to spend as little as possible. Even standard rh scissors are uncomfortable to use left handed so imagine the reluctance to adapt whole work stations.
Not saying that there aren’t other more sinister motives for that requirement too. To me it sounds more like a laundry list of requirements for mail order brides for conservative young men in a one child policy country.
@ Lofty
Taiwan has/had a one-child policy?
Taiwan does not seem to have a strong human rights code.
Have you ever visited Taiwan? I live in here permanently, for the last fourteen years.
Taiwan does not belong to China. Taiwan was the legitimate and ruling government of the mainland until the communists took over and the UN made the mistake of “recognizing” the PRC. Communist China has never governed Taiwan, and never will.
Taiwan has a low birth rate because women chose careers over child rearing and marriage as incomes have declined.
https://taiwaninsight.org/2019/02/05/taiwans-population-growth-or-lack-thereof/
@Intransitive, no I haven’t visited Taiwan but a good friend of mine has spent a month cycle touring the country and speaks very highly of it and its people. I have read enough to be aware of the history of Taiwan to know what the political situation looks like. Anyway, I’m not here to have an argument with you so I thank you for publishing my post and say goodbye.
@ jrkrideau, which country that had a long standing one child policy is nearest to Taiwan? And there is possibly a market for “clean” young women with some Chinese language training (after some months of low paid work). All pure speculation of course but judging by reports there are clearly plenty of Taiwanese with sympathies for the Mainland.