ITO EN (North America) Reviews

Pros

Working for Ito En can be an amazing and exciting career move. You will be working in an extremely international environment – our products are produced and imported from several Asian countries and a large portion of our employees and vendors are from Asia. Asian business is expanding rapidly not only in Asia but also here in America, and working for Ito En gives you invaluable experience learning about and doing... business with people and companies of different cultures. Furthermore, Ito En puts a large amount of trust and independence in their employees, giving them the opportunity to expand the realm of their individual positions, contributing their all to the company while learning and bettering their resume infinitely.

Cons

Work never ends. You have to be good at multitasking and time management. You need to travel a lot for some of the positions.

Pros

I worked at one of their branches called matcha love in NJ as a barista. Enjoyed the people working there. Although it was tiring since it was always pretty busy, I still enjoyed working there a lot.

Cons

The pay was rather little consider how much we had to do.

Pros

Paid transit (at least when I was there) in 2013.

Cons

Catty coworkers, disgusting old building, location is in Brooklyn, product is really made in Thailand and NOT Japan. If you check your flimsy plastic bottles, it will say made from Thailand along with the product inside. The false advertising itself made me want to quit a long time ago. I wasted my years doing clerical work with a job title that made me feel like a scam. My yearly pay was lower than some of the... people working in customer service. Mind you, I went to college and completed some masters courses. Took me several job hops to finally be compensated for my market value. Can't wait until I leave this company out of my resume. Management here will only promote those who are Japanese or sacrifice 12 hour slave shifts. For years, I have done absolutely nothing for my career. The pay increase was a joke.

Advice to Management

Stay in Japan, there are lots of better tea brands.

Pros

They care about their employees.

Cons

It's really hard to talk to anyone important.

Pros

They have benefits for all employees. Get to work in a great neighborhood. Discounted tea as employees only pay $1 per bottle.

Cons

If there was a top ten list out there for the most terrible places to work then this place most certainly will be on that list. It's more like a jail. Get up from your seat any time of the day and it will be noticed.

Advice to Management

Please keep promises you make to employees. You are all talk and no action. There is a reason why everyone here quits and the reason is you.

Pros

- Strong opportunities for advancement based on proven performance. - Honest and friendly co-workers with integrity, great work ethic, and dedication to teamwork. - Premium and trending products to feel good about selling and making people healthier. - Freedom to make decisions and work independently...self-autonomy to get the job done. - Very loyal employer toward employee retention and strong foundation of job... security/stability. - Good insurance benefits and 401K plan.

Cons

- Must have patience to work here and willingness to roll with unique hybrid of Japanese and American company culture. Not for everyone and some personalities won't fit. - Office environment is quite sterile with an old-school, cubicle environment. - Conservative nature of company can stifle growth evolution and limit ability to be nimble.

Advice to Management

- Improve corporate culture and office environment to fit with modern employee standards by adding perks and benefits (casual dress policy, office artwork & furniture, flex time, gym fitness benefit, employee mixers, off-site retreats). - Start bench marking the work culture against other employers to be more current and relevant, especially for young employees. - Innovate with greater speed and efficiency.

Pros

Transit, 401K, health insurance was pretty decent compared to some others, the Brooklyn bridge is right there, the view of Manhattan

Cons

EXTREMELY low pay so this negates the pros, rewards employees who work long hours instead of what they accomplish, HR is corrupt and will be the ones causing problems for you. The people who stick around are those that really NEED a job (sponsorship, lack of English, been laid off recently, etc). My career expectations were never acknowledged and I was stuck doing the work no one wanted for several years until I had... the "experience" (aka years to put in my resume) to leave. My career has proliferated ever since I left this company. You can do better.

Pros

Great company to work for. Great benefits. Matched 401K.

Cons

Quite unprofessional HR but we all get used to it. You don't get paid during your maternity leave.

Advice to Management

HR needs a lot of improvement.