Global ambitions, but still very domestic on the inside - Anonymous employee Rakuten Employee Review

3.0
Sep 9, 2013
Anonymous employee
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Company is eager to change into a global player and is willing to change some things internally to get there. The global change also means there are opportunities for the right people. High profits mean the company has the power to do things.

Cons

Still very much a slow moving Japanese dinosaur on things not strictly tied to business. Entirely KPI driven based, always too business focused to do the right decisions for technology. Even if the company tries to succeed globally the internal structure is Japanese, political, conservative, slow moving (endless workflows and approvals), and the work environment isn't up to global standards nor are the packages. A lot of creative use of "optional" that means mandatory and other odd ball practices.

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5.0
Mar 25, 2026
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Rakuten Rewards has great life balance. Too bad the economy was getting rocked.

Cons

Don't really have any cons. I understand that the market's been hard so had to downsize the force, so that was kinda challenging. Hopefully AI will increase everyone's output.

1.0
Jul 6, 2026
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Free food, benefits are good

Cons

Pay was so bad. The management was awful.

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