Mercie/Thank you FACKTOR [Charlotte] - Machining Mgr FAKTOR 3 Employee Review

The company allows you to work independently and do not micromanage you; the freedom and trust is great. You have access to quality Macbooks and technology and can generally find a work-life balance that works with your lifestyle.

Overall, it was a great starting point for me in a junior level position. That said, the management and CEO teams are highly uninspiring and don't offer employees any chances to grow. If you like to receive positive and constructive feedback in your workplace, then stay clear from this place. HR is very weak and there are no systems in place that help improve the company culture. The clients can be fun at times, but mostly challenging due to F3's lack of quality in the work. There's no appreciation for new ideas - you will feel overworked and undervalued.

As an agency, Faktor 3 offers many perks such as free soft drinks, after-work beers, its own company pub for internal events and parties, after-work yoga, free fruit, free lunch once per week, a flexible policy regarding remote working, community service opportunities, and more. The clients and the projects are diverse and there are many opportunities to learn new skills and grow if you seek them out. The exact experience can vary depending on which team you were on, but my team had a strong team spirit and the colleagues were very loyal to each other. The company culture is friendly and open and people don't take themselves too seriously. The agency is careful to build teams with a good mixture of experienced and less-experienced employees, so the newcomers have a chance to learn. Faktor 3 is a good place for communication professionals at the beginning of their career to gain experience. Most people leave after 1-5 years to go freelance, pursue work they are more passionate about (such as NGOs) or switch to the corporate / client side.

Understaffing seems to be part of the business model - positions go unfilled for months, sometimes years at a time. High personnel turnover is typical for an agency, but doesn't help with the staffing situation. Sometimes it feels like as soon as one person is hired, two more leave. Employees are so overworked, they rarely have time to take advantage of all the benefits the agency offers such as after-work sporting events or continuing education workshops ("academies"). High workloads and long hours are the norm, although work-life balance became much easier to maintain following the introduction of remote work and more flexible working hours during corona. Decentralized teams make it hard to share knowledge. Salary is below average for the communication industry, although typical for an agency. It is extremely difficult to negotiate a raise more than 5%, and virtually impossible to negotiate any kinds of non-financial compensation (such as fewer hours or more vacation days). The paradox of overperforming employees applies: good work is rewarded with more work. There are no opportunities for advancement beyond titles such as junior-regular-senior, unless you want to become a team lead. Beyond team leads, there is almost no mid-level management and therefore no opportunities for advancement.