Manager - Anonymous employee KOTRA Employee Review

4.0
Mar 6, 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It's obligatory to do rotational work. You get to work in different countries. Each rotation lasts for 3-4 years abroad and go back to Korea for 2-3 years. Your position also rotates so you can really experience new industry and responsibilites. KOTRA can be a great workplace for someone and at the same time the worst place according to your personality.

Cons

The fact that you get to experience new things regularly makes it difficult to be an expert in on sector. There are significant differences in employee benefits based upon where you are hired or under which modality your contract is.

Explore other reviews about KOTRA

5.0
Jun 18, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Godd pay flexible hours and lots of incentives

Cons

Long work hours overall working in shifts

1.0
Apr 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Hard to think of any pro, I’d say you get paid Korean holidays but not all holidays are included (such as the Korean new year & Korean Thanksgiving).

Cons

* No W2 — you’re classified as a contractor, meaning you pay ~30% in self-employment taxes on top of everything else. No health insurance, no life insurance, no 401K. ZERO standard benefits. * Leadership is nonexistent in any meaningful sense. Managers are flown in from Korea with no English proficiency and no understanding of the local team. They freely use the corporate card for personal meals while being incredibly stingy with basic office necessities — no coffee, no water, no snacks. They also think they know everything when they don’t know any single thing and make the local team members do all the freaking work? *The workspace conditions are the worst I’ve experienced. There were recurring mice and cockroach infestations near desks and chairs, with no serious effort made to address it.

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