11
eNPS Score
Q&A With Rakuten Employees
At Rakuten, we celebrate the fact that we are a single global company that transcends ethnic, gender and geographical borders. In Tokyo alone, we have people from over 70+ countries and regions contributing to projects and sharing their viewpoints and experiences. By positively embracing diversity, we encourage fresh perspectives and discover new business opportunities and strategies. Support for our global community includes everything from daycare centers for working parents to the adoption of English as a common language and open spaces that foster free communication. To us, every wall inside the office is a whiteboard! We think of ourselves as a new kind of family, one based not on chance but on determination to be the brightest and the best. New employees are guided by colleagues who ensure we hit the ground running and are always there to pick us up when we stumble. (And we all stumble from time to time!)
How employees describe working at Rakuten
Good company and i want to work
everything is good about Raukuten. I always prefer them
Their customer service is terrible. They promise money only to take it away, citing its policy that it has the right to rescind miney as it sees fit.
They listen and take ideas under consideration. You can easily message anyone in the company, including the CEO, if you need information.
Heavy top to bottom culture. Using regulatary grey zone to mandate employee to work on what doesn't within their profession.
Review from Engineering Dept
What it's like to work at Rakuten
- Rakuten employees generally work 9.0 hrs a day
- Employees at Rakuten report the work pace is comfortably fast
- 82% of Rakuten employees look forward to interacting with their team every day
- Rakuten employees most often take 15-20 paid vacation and sick days each year
- 33% of Rakuten employees report they are happy with their work life balance
- Rakuten employees typically get valuable feedback on how to improve at work Once a quarter
- 68% of Rakuten employees call their work environment positive
Q&A With Rakuten Employees
IDX: 0 TOT: 34
How much diversity is there among employees at Rakuten?
Top Employee Response
In the big data department more or less 50% of employees are foreigners from everywhere in the world. Rakuten is trying hard to build a global company culture. The japanese core of the company is still strong but it's improving.
A lot. Rakuten might be the most ethnically-diverse white-collar employer in Japan. People from all over the world work here.
How does Rakuten make decisions around promotions?
Top Employee Response
Ostensibly it's like other companies, based on quarterly deliveries and the scope expected at your level. Also like other companies, in reality it's actually mostly a popularity contest.
Managers are mostly hired from the outside and there are few internal promotions
What does the leadership team at Rakuten need to get better at?
Stop doing changes for NOW and thing a bit in the future. Trust engineers, don't treat them as slaves or code monkeys.
Need to modernize their means, listen to people and question decisions from above that might have issues
What kind of people does Rakuten like to hire?
People willing to do anything instead of what's defined by their job title. People who love Rakuten enough to take a salary hit.
How do you feel about Rakuten's future?
The company will continue to grow using its strategy of hiring lots of people, squeezing what knowledge it can from them, and then having them quit as they get stressed out and exhausted and a new crop comes in.
If you could make changes, how would you improve the culture at Rakuten?
Top Employee Response
Someone needs to stand up for the workers and against the man-child CEO.
What perk or benefit should Rakuten have?
A retirement plan: the company has none.
What's the office vibe like at Rakuten?
Top Employee Response
A packed bullpen of cafeteria-like open-office desks. Cacophonous noise with all those people together. Hard to concentrate.
What's the work from home policy like at Rakuten?
Unthinkable. CEO is big on everyone coming to the office at the same time every day
What is the best advice you could give someone during their first month at Rakuten?
Start making plans to leave after two to four years. Rakuten does not want veteran employees. If you had a long career at a company that was acquired by Rakuten, start looking around sooner rather than later.
How do you feel about going to work at Rakuten everyday?
It's just a job
How secure do you feel at your job at Rakuten?
Top Employee Response
Layoffs and firings are unheard of, but the obsessive KPIs (6 per person per half year) mean that veterans run out of ideas and have to quit
How's the vacation policy at Rakuten?
Starts at 10 days per year; pressure to not use all of them
What is the PTO policy at Rakuten?
10 days per year to start, rising to 20 as the years pass. Pressure not to take much of it; most people take 5-10 days per year.
How often do promotions happen at Rakuten?
They don't; for the most part managers are hired from outside.
What's one thing you wish you'd known before joining Rakuten?
Lack of career advancement, strict rules, low morale
How's the morale at Rakuten?
Not good: no pay raises, obsessive pressure to create and then reach KPIs. Decade-long veterans have all run out of ideas for innovation, but have to keep coming up with them to avoid salary cuts
How's the feedback process at Rakuten?
Managers talk, we listen
How innovative is Rakuten?
Extremely. CEO is always looking to expand into other fields
How's the work life balance at Rakuten?
Not good. Salaries include 30-40 hours of overtime and workers put that OT in without complaint
How flexible is your work schedule at Rakuten?
Not at all. We have time cards and being even a minute late or having to leave a minute early means taking half a day of PTO
What kinds of community outreach does Rakuten participate in?
They have open events in the neighborhood a few times a year
How difficult is it to maintain a social life while in your job at Rakuten?
Difficult. Long overtime and rotating shifts make it difficult to know when you'll be free in the future
What's the office layout like at Rakuten?
Open office with no partitions separating people
What are your coworkers at Rakuten like?
Top Employee Response
Very talented and smart -- the company should do more to retain them.
Curious about what work's like at Rakuten?
Anonymously Ask Rakuten Employees Any Question
Should I work at Rakuten?
42% of Rakuten employees would encourage their friends to become coworkers, whereas 27% are neutral and 31% would not recommend working at Rakuten to their friends.
| 42% | Promoters |
|---|---|
| 27% | Passive |
| 31% | Detractors |
