Is my GF being exploited?

[jhoge]

Hi guys,

My girlfriend (a Taiwanese native) works at a PR agency in Taipei. She has a master's degree from the US, works something like 60-70 hour weeks, has an hour-long commute, reads magazines for work on weekends, doesn't like her work...and gets paid around $32k NT a month. To me, that seems absolutely ridiculous, and I think she should quit. She says EVERYBODY in Taiwan is willing to work this hard for so little money...I'm having trouble believing that...isn't the national average wage over $40k NT/month for a 40 hour week?

Is she being exploited? If so, how can I convince her to find a better job, and what are some good places to look?

[Namahottie]

Hi guys,

My girlfriend (a Taiwanese native) works at a PR agency in Taipei. She has a master's degree from the US, works something like 60-70 hour weeks, has an hour-long commute, reads magazines for work on weekends, doesn't like her work...and gets paid around $32k NT a month. To me, that seems absolutely ridiculous, and I think she should quit. She says EVERYBODY in Taiwan is willing to work this hard for so little money...I'm having trouble believing that...isn't the national average wage over $40k NT/month for a 40 hour week?

Is she being exploited? If so, how can I convince her to find a better job, and what are some good places to look?

Wow. Sounds like most Americans I know. Depends on what she thinks is exploitation. You definition based on your cultural background and goals is going to be different from hers.

[It is me again]

Hi guys,
Is she being exploited? If so, how can I convince her to find a better job, and what are some good places to look?

If she would be able to find a job at a foreign company in Taiwan, she would still have to work hard, but certainly would get better paid - permitted she'd have a foreign boss. She would - however - have to be be willing to cope with the corporate bullshit, which in the end is not so difficult.

[tomthorne]

That's kind of the standard package for a graduate's first job in Taiwan. Don't put pressure on her because you know it's a crap deal.

[redwagon]

Ask Ma Ying-joke what happened to his '633' deal.

Half the locals I know down here in Taichung are happy just to hang on to their shitty 28k a month sales job. People who just graduated from Tai-Da are being offered that kind of money for an entry-level position.

The future for Taiwanese is China salary and Korea cost of living. It's like Londonization without the glamor.

[TheLostSwede]

Sadly the answer is no, that's very typical for a PR company here and my GF wasted eight years of her life after a masters from the UK in a PR agency working a lot more hours than that. She did move up the ranks though over the years and towards the end she was on about twice of what your GF makes.

She's now working for a big international company and getting paid more while in general working fewer hours. However, she's also getting twice as much shit and has a boss that should've been fired a long time ago in most other countries.

It's not easy getting a good job in PR here unless you do your own thing, but without hands on experience, good connections and a good reputation, that's pretty much impossible.

[zender]

Good advice so far.

If she has 2-3 years of experience, and is interested in being an "events coordinator", you can PM me. My better half might be able to find her another long-hour job with better pay.

[vodche]

I don't understand how one can live with such low salary. I mean, after all expenses (food, personal stuff, and entertainment) there's no money left for savings. Is she getting perks and/or bonuses every now and then (because I heard that's how it's done in Taiwan)? In the US, one can earn relatively low salary (with no bonus/perks), enjoy life with splurges and shit, and still have some savings left (except for those with expensive mortgages). The work hours aren't as bad either.

[Tomas]

Very typical for a PR agency. If she stays, the pay will get better, but she'll have to wait for others to get promoted and vacate spots, or for the agency to grow. Is it a good one? Do they know their shit?

If it was my girlfriend, I'd tell her to go into something she enjoys that has some kind of a future she wants. Does she like teaching kids? Is her English fluent? She'd make much better money with much less stress as a buxiban and/or kindy teacher if she's into that.

[steelersman]

Hi guys,

My girlfriend (a Taiwanese native) works at a PR agency in Taipei. She has a master's degree from the US, works something like 60-70 hour weeks, has an hour-long commute, reads magazines for work on weekends, doesn't like her work...and gets paid around $32k NT a month. To me, that seems absolutely ridiculous, and I think she should quit. She says EVERYBODY in Taiwan is willing to work this hard for so little money...I'm having trouble believing that...isn't the national average wage over $40k NT/month for a 40 hour week?

Is she being exploited? If so, how can I convince her to find a better job, and what are some good places to look?

The real exploitation is the education industry in Taiwan. People spend lots of money for buxibans, US degrees, etc and still make 32,000 a month. Does it really matter if you went to some crap university or got a degree in the US?