Whilst I do think that the average Taiwanese worker gets treated like shit, they also don't bring anything of real value to the company. They are easily replaced because it's easy to replace a zombie who screws around on Facebook all day. They're regarded as worth little because they are worth little, and they're worth little because they're regarded as worth little. It's a bit of a chicken and the egg thing. Regardless, I wouldn't want the average Taiwanese person working for me. I wouldn't try to treat them like shit, but I could see how my patience would wear very thin, very quickly and I'd probably start treating them like shit because they wouldn't care enough to make me want to value them. Life is a two way street. If the average worker here doesn't give a shit, why should the boss give a shit? Frankly, if I had carte blanche at the school where I work, I'd fire half of the teachers here within the first hour, though the problem would be that the next wave of replacements, and the wave after that, and the one after that ad infinitum, would be just as bad. The incompetence, lack of initiative and sheer laziness here is astounding, and I don't think reworking the incentives to provide more carrot and less stick would necessarily make any difference. The only thing many of them do understand is a bigger stick. So, fuck 'em.
Of course I'm just another unhappy English teacher in Taidong