Traditional company culture, work hard and slow to change
Pros
- They offer the market rate salary, not more, sometimes less, and there is a guaranteed bonus every year - You can have the opportunity to work on exciting projects, provided you take initiative and drive the change. You get what you take.
Cons
- There is no room for negotiation, at all, for anything, period. Once you're in the range they want, they will not budge on any front. Be it benefits, pay, health insurance, flexi-work, nothing. - There is limited room for growth and individual performance. You can take initiative and drive innovation and projects, but chances are that you won't be rewarded for it. They would cite company policy reasons, stock being down etc., to deny you advancement. - The management is often vague, ambiguous, and confused. We have lost on so much due to poor management than anything else. Several of our high-performing employees left because the management wouldn't yield or listen to what the employees want. - As with most mismanaged and bureaucratic companies, it's about who you know rather than what you know. The only way to advance in the company is by building a strong network and connections with upper management and people in positions of power who can vouch for you, and you move up the ladder. - The company culture is old, they are slow to revise their methods, and tend to fall on "this is always how we do things". - There is a disproportionate focus on the grind. I've seen several teams working late nights and weekends without overtime pay because it's "expected". - They don't seem to follow their own rules, or even fully know them. The HR in Singapore will default to "No" even if the employee handbook says otherwise. You might even end up going in circles from HR to the manager. - The benefits in the US and other branches vastly differ from APAC. Don't fall for what they say on their website. They often cite geography as a reason to actively deny the employees in Singapore the benefits and perks being offered in other regions. It's discrimination by location. - They offer the bare minimum as part of their policy, with a complicated insurance program, standard annual leave, and no room for flexi-working. They claim to be "best" employers, but the true story is something else entirely.