Rakuten reviews

3.6

72% would recommend to a friend

(3,549 total reviews)
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Hiroshi Mikitani

77% approve of CEO

56% positive business outlook

Rakuten has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 3,549 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Rakuten employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

4K reviews
3.0
Aug 12, 2015

Web Analyst

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It's a huge company but internally feels like a startup. Your experience at Rakuten is what you put into it. If you choose to challenge yourself, invest and grow, you will have many opportunities that you wouldn't have in other companies where your skills and experiences might be limited and pigeon-holed.

Cons

NOT for everyone. You need to be flexible and willing to challenge yourself. Chaotic work environment. Depends on the department but most are still adamant about becoming a global company & hold on to the very Japanese work culture.

3.0
Aug 5, 2015

Still a Japanese company

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pros and cons highly depend on the department and team you end up in, so I will write about my personal experience. But keep in mind that there are a lot of people who have exactly opposite situation. Rakuten is almost the only Japanese company that won't require Japanese language and you can apply without any knowledge of Japanese. In my team we always use English in all meetings, even though about 80% of members are Japanese. Work/life balance, overtime, etc. also depends on your team. I never did overtime in Rakuten, but I know people who stay until 10-11pm almost every day. My managers always treat me very well and with respect. I joined as a new grad, but my team treated me like a high-skilled mid-career employee. Me and other new comers were given tasks that require very high level of responsibility. However, for other departments it may be exactly opposite. Rakuten is a huge company with different cultures. Everything depends on on your department, your managers and teammates. But don't forget that it is still a Japanese company. If you apply from overseas and never lived in Japan, you will have a lot of challenges. But hey, it's Japan. Don't expect western-style management, culture and traditions. I see a lot of people complain about their work in Rakuten, but compared to other Japanese companies, in my opinion it is not so bad.

Cons

The worst case is your team doesnt use English at all, you are not given any tasks, managers treat you like a little kid or without any respect, you do a lot of overtime, etc. Very bad OJT training that required you to do meaningless meetings, presentations and tasks. For new grads - very bad HR training that requires you to do even more meaningless things (for example engineers have to sell Rakuten cards). For new grads - you don't know department that you end up in (it's almost random). Low salary. Too many meaningless meetings, Japanese business style. No innovations, too much copying from competitors.

1.0
Jul 27, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

This company has Great benefits. This company has Great food. This company has Great employee's. This company has Great location.

Cons

Executive Staff. No Vision plan. Do not listen to employee's in the know. Do not know how to innovate. Management by fear.

Viewing 3310 - 3312 of 3,549 Reviews

Glassdoor has 4,203 Rakuten reviews submitted anonymously by Rakuten employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Rakuten is right for you.