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Japan External Trade Organization

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Japan External Trade Organization Reviews

3.1

53% would recommend to a friend

(63 total reviews)

46% positive business outlook

Japan External Trade Organization has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 63 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Japan External Trade Organization employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Government and public administration industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

63 reviews
1.0
17 Apr 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Health insurance, very stable if you want a job that pays you and does not demand much from you, you are exposed to and learn a lot about various industries (good for networking purposes) you can use Japanese at the work place JETRO is good mainly as a temporary job / launching pad for a better paid job. Only work here if you need something temporary or are in a midst of a transition.

Cons

No opportunities for raises or promotion as a local staff. Management rotates every two to three years, so there is a lot of instability in terms of consistency and continuity in projects. Lots of overtime Paid below-market wages as a local staff 401 k plan is not good (recommend getting your own IRA account instead) As a foreign govt, JETRO does not pay your state and federal taxes, you have to file as "self-employed" even though you are a full-time employee of JETRO. You also cannot deduct any expenses as a "self-employed" taxpayer due to IRS rules with foreign governments. Filing taxes is quite a process because of this, so be prepared for that if you decide to work here! A very traditional and conservative Japanese work environment, might not be good if you are not used to working for a Japanese company/organization

1.0
20 Sept 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

medical insurance is the best part of the job

Cons

If hired as a national staff, there will be no promotions and no increases in wage (only small increments every year that is way lower than the CPI, which means you're making less every year). They don't reward great performance so don't expect to get anything in return because you excel at your job. They also do not reprimand bad behavior which is why there is a lot of dead weight within the organization. With these reasons, it's very hard to stay engaged and motivated. All management positions are filled by personnel coming from Japan and national staff will always be their assistant, nothing more. The management positions rotate every 3 years and the succession planning is almost non-existent, which means the national staff left have all of the valuable network/knowledge and have to teach the managers. The workplace culture is very Japanese; hierarchical, resistance to change, and stresses more on the process than the outcome. If you are young, expect your opinions to be washed down the drain.

3.0
30 Jan 2018

Okay but not great

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

fairly easy job get to exercise your language skills occasional business trips nice colleagues

Cons

low salary little vacation time rigid rules big gap between rules for local and Japanese employees

Viewing 1 - 3 of 63 Reviews

Glassdoor has 81 Japan External Trade Organization reviews submitted anonymously by Japan External Trade Organization employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Japan External Trade Organization is right for you.