Safe company to work for but frustrating if you want to make an impact
Pros
- Working hours are very reasonable - 9 to 5 is normal - Safe job if you continue to perform as expected - Employees generally have calm, non-invasive or aggressive personalities to suit Japanese style of working - Nice office but very quiet (some people like it) - Big organisation so it can ride out storms very well - Most staff are polite and well mannered - Some efforts made to bridge cultural gap in the form of the in-office bar - There is budget for training and self-development within your job spec - Lots of very long serving staff, not many long serving new staff
Cons
- If you aren't Japanese, you probably aren't going to progress within the company except if you are there a long time (more than 10 years). - Preferential treatment is given to Japanese staff. There is a strong desire to protect their own. - If you are a woman, you are not likely to progress in the company. Nearly all women in the company are in secretarial or business support positions. - There are no black people in the company or in any of the European offices. - Management requires approval from other management for everything meaning most management don't know how to make decisions making decision processes painfully slow and arduous. - Jobs are pretty safe so management don't seem to work hard despite working very long hours. - They very much don't like any change or anything beyond scope. - Large company but no internal recruitment or opportunities to move inside the company (apart from Japanese staff). Only progression happens when someone senior leaves or retires. - Yearly pay review does not reflect market value for positions. If you progress significantly within your role or achieve valuable professional certificates, these aren't taken into account. There is no scope to pay rise outside of the yearly review - unless you are Japanese, of course.
