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Enforce back-to-the-office rule!

Software Engineer
Current Employee
Has worked at Rakuten for 6 years
August 13, 2023
San Mateo, California
4.0
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEO
Pros

Free lunch for the major campuses.

Free food.

Free beverages.

Half day off on Fridays between Memorial and Labor Day.

Actual vacation days (15 minimum), not the all-you-can-take BS.

The company really cares about diversity and many other PC causes.

Cons

The company cares too much about diversity and PC causes. Way too much time is spent on the weekly all-company meeting "Asakai" on these topics. It is sometimes useful and often is a total waste of time.

Please, I just need to know how the company is doing financially and get back to do my work.

Information is very siloized. One big reason is because everyone still spends most of their time WFH, at least on the engineering side. Oh, sure, we are all supposed to come to work 3 days a week, but this is not enforced at all. A natural consequence is the rank-and-file seldom talks to their peers, and only the managers know what's going on.

This is great if you are one of those people who just likes to take orders and march, but it makes a very frustrating experience if you want to have a say on what you are doing and decide whether you are doing the right thing for the company. If you have been in the company for a long time, you will be fine, because you know who to talk to and where to find stuff, but if you are new, you'd better be extra-motivated.

Advice to Management

Enforce back-to-the-office.

I suspect some of you like this half-hearted back-to-the-office effort because most of you are in charge and information flows up to you anyway. Why come to the office?

But it is really bad for the rank-and-file and greatly reduces our productivity.

Additional Ratings

Work/Life Balance
4.0
Culture and Values
4.0
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
5.0
Career Opportunities
2.0
Compensation and Benefits
2.0
Senior Management
3.0

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