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Most regressive company and death trap to an early career

Senior Engineer
Former Employee
Worked at Rakuten for 1 year
October 30, 2017
Singapore, Singapore
1.0
Doesn't RecommendNeutral OutlookDoesn't Approve of CEO
Pros

You can actually get paid for doing nothing.

Food is abundant.

Any amount of mistakes and troubles created will be excused with a "sorry" if you're friendly with the manager.

Cons

The list is long, and hence I'm listing a few:

  • All-round talent and software development skills are very low.
  • Some folks who don't know how to build a service sit in Japan and dictate what needs to be created, etc.
  • Mostly run by Japs with 10+ years in the company with zero skills. They work 10+ hours to prevent any improvement/change.
  • I saw some bright, young employees, but they are forced to do brain-dead work.
  • Most managers and senior folks kill their time from 9 am to 6 pm, just moving from one room to another for meetings. There is no need to work for many of them.
  • They hire PJMs and Product Managers and make them do very menial and meaningless work.

In a nutshell, Rakuten in Asia and Japan claims to be a global company, but they are not. If one works for more than 1 year, it's a true death trap that you can't get a job elsewhere, and hence you had to leave in a hurry.

It is mostly a matter of time that this company could degenerate, but for the Japanese protective policy and some smart eggs at the top. Except for the global CFO and CIO, everyone else in the executive line almost consistently makes no sense.

Advice to Management

Unworthy to spend time, as they do not listen. I am sure there would have been much good advice that came to them. They are not listening. Hence, no point.

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