Pros
Fairly quick hiring process. Additionally, a lot of nice people scattered throughout the company, including instructors, managers, LC staff, and some administrative staff at HQ.
Cons
The leadership of Berlitz Japan manages the company as if determined to eradicate not only its brand equity entirely, but also to squash all hope among its employees that there is any future to be had with the company. In improving the health of the company, internal cost-cutting seems to be the sole stratagem in which they have any interest, though there is strong evidence that actively cutting morale is also part of their M.O. If the company is making any effort at all to increase sales, they're doing so stealthily. Berlitz advertising is all but invisible out in the world, and if you do run into it, you'll notice it's badly planned and badly executed. Pay is bad. It's effectively the lowest they can legally pay you and still have you qualify for a work visa in Japan. This is not an accident. Additional classes that would lead to a bit of extra pay are occasionally available, but ever less so. Raises are literally nonexistent. The new full time contract has zero annual bonus. The schedule is bad. This is especially true for people on the new instructor contract. Split shifts are standard, as are non-consecutive days off (especially for new hires). If you're full time, you will basically never be able to have an actual Saturday/Sunday weekend. You can expect to be scheduled from 8:30 (7:45 at some LCs) to 21:15 at least several days a week. Teachers often suffer from chronic sleep loss due to their schedules. Endless fatigue that saps focus and motivation, combined with poor compensation in a place with a high cost of living, effectively leads to a form of wage slavery. The teaching materials are bad and actually getting worse. Even the newest texts are already out of date and out of touch with real world language of today (multiple consecutive chapters on leaving a phone message? really?). The older texts are even more embarrassingly out of date, sporting pictures of decades-old tech and topics so irrelevant you actively apologize to the students for their presence in the book. Additionally, the newer books were hastily put together with what seems like no oversight, the upshot being that they are full of errors. Some of the specialized materials are based on what appears to be inconsistently formatted Word files thrown together overnight by someone without any topical knowledge or relevant research at hand. It's embarrassing. At the same time, use of better-quality third-party materials is actively discouraged and minimized. It is a dead-end job. People come, they stay 6-12 months, they leave in frustration. There is no incentive to stay with the company long-term. Instructors are clearly seen as disposable by the company. A handful of people might move on to HQ or become managers at schools, but they're not happy either. If you want a job that'll let you support a family or lead to better opportunities over time, look elsewhere. Upper management does not listen, and clearly has no interest in listening. Problems go on endlessly, idiotic policies go unchanged despite protest, apparent opportunities are actively ignored. The greatest and most valuable resource that Berlitz has is its employees, and it does not listen to them. Turnover is high and nobody is surprised. Some of the schools are in poor condition, too. Newly-renovated schools are fine, but some branches are in dire need of improvement. Worn-out interiors, dirty walls and worn floor tiles, worn upholstery, and promotional posters that appear to have been in place since the eighties. It's embarrassing. Ultimately, the people who seem to be happy at the company fall into three categories. First, upper management folks whose compensation is actually adequate. Second, old-timers who have been with the company since bubble times and whose salaries and benefits are actually good. Third, people who don't know any better. Everyone else is pretty miserable.
