Kowa Reviews

2.6

42% would recommend to a friend

(25 total reviews)

Yoshihiro Miwa

67% approve of CEO

32% positive business outlook

Kowa has an employee rating of 2.6 out of 5 stars, based on 25 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Kowa employee rating is 25% below average for employers within the Manufacturing industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

25 reviews
1.0
29 Aug 2018

Where professionalism and opportunity go to die

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Well-respected company in Japan, 401K is matched by the company up to 2%, all federal holidays and Boxing Day are off, very comprehensive healthcare package.

Cons

Compensation is much lower than market rate, five sick days per year, extremely inflexible hours (leaving even five minutes requires signing off from upper management for ANY position, and 2 hours of paid or unpaid time off is taken), toxic office culture, lack of opportunities for growth

1.0
3 July 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

* Some good, competitive products in the optical and medical field * Kowa is a well known name in optics, sporting optics and medical devices

Cons

* Management is dishonest, and will change the rules of the game at their whim to the employee's disadvantage. * There are Japanese managers that are racist toward non-Japanese at Kowa. This becomes apparent when double standards are observed. * The company is very poor at providing feedback to employees. * HR staff will rat on you to management for petty infractions, e.g., returning from lunch 5 minutes late. This will greatly harm your morale. * Poor work environment. Office is old and grungy with 1960's style office partitions, poor lighting, few windows, and carpet that should have been replaced 15 years ago.

1.0
16 July 2015

The worst of Japanese conservatism

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Product pipeline Good successes in Japan market

Cons

No strategy, the CEO is deciding everything, incl. the colors of the walls of all offices No meritocraty and no performance-based rewards Poor salaries for most workers

Viewing 1 - 3 of 25 Reviews

Glassdoor has 25 Kowa reviews submitted anonymously by Kowa employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Kowa is right for you.