Whether profitable or not, it has become an important “ritual” in Taiwan that tech firms host large year-end banquets for employees, which feature performing artists and lucky draw prizes to boost employee morale.
The annual event, known as wei ya (尾牙), usually starts with speeches from management about the company’s performance, outlook or operational goals for the coming year and incentives to encourage employees to work harder.
This year, companies like Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Pegatron Corp (和碩), Inventec Corp (英業達), Wistron Corp (緯創) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are hosting banquets at the Nangang Exhibition Hall in the weeks prior to the Lunar New Year. The venue can accommodate thousands of people and doubles as a concert hall.
The Formosa Regent Taipei (台北晶華酒店) is another choice venue because its banquet menu has at least eight dishes, including seafood and steak. The self-serve ice cream is a highlight.
Apart from a banquet to thank employees, some companies invite famous singers and popular talk-show hosts to entertain people. If A-mei (阿妹), Wu Bai (伍佰) or Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) were to sing at their year-end banquet it shows that the company is sincere about the event.
When A-mei performed at Pegatron’s banquet, nearly 8,000 employees watched the pop diva sing.
Sometimes management teams try to entertain employees themselves. Quanta chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and vice chairman C.C. Leung (梁次震) have worn costumes such as Neo, a character from The Matrix movie, and pained themselves blue like a Na’vi from Avatar. They have also dressed up like Confucius (孔子). During the latest banquet, the pair even held lightsabers, a weapon from the Star Wars movies and marched on stage to the films’ music to open the annual event.
Lucky draws usually create a cheerful atmosphere because the combined prizes could be worth tens of millions of New Taiwan dollars. Quanta gave away a total of NT$40 million (US$1.24 million) in prizes during last year’s event, with a grand prize of NT$300,000 cash for 18 employees, while Pegatron’s largest prize was a Skoda SUV valued at more than NT$1 million. Pegatron chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) gave NT$10,000 in cash to 8,000 employees at last year’s banquet.
Compal has a tradition called “a handful prize.” Compal chairman Rock Hsu (許勝雄), president Ray Chen (陳瑞聰) and their wives scoop out as many tickets for workers’ prizes as they can from a transparent ball on stage. At last year’s event, Compal gave NT$30 million to employees, up 25 percent from the previous year’s NT$24 million.
Quanta is to host its year-end banquet on Friday, the first among its peers.
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