Preoccupied with appearing successful, neglecting everything else - Production Editor Future Employee Review

1.0
19 Sept 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Talented rank and file staff who have genuine passion for their subjects Produces some best-in-class products Decent IT/services infrastructure Bath offices have been recently refurbished and are very nice

Cons

Below average pay (even by publishing standards) Terrible career progression options, particularly on the editorial/creative side Management increasingly treating editorial as a 'content farm', where people are easily replaceable, regardless of their experience or talent Constant budget cuts every year - staff are routinely expected to do more with less, with no real care for how that will impact them Patronising management ethos where insulting company 'values' are pushed (even to the point of having them printed in foot-high letters on the office walls) when they mean nothing, and serve no purpose Minimal benefits - there's a Bupa scheme and you'll get a few quid off a Mission Burrito if you show your ID, but that's about it Constant threat of redundancies/magazine closures - in the decade I worked there, Future had at least four large-scale redundancies. Since the last round, they regularly made people redundant in smaller numbers every few months to draw less attention

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Future Response
8y
We appreciate the time you have taken to offer this detailed feedback. We are always looking for ways to improve. We have introduced a new People and Culture team, led by one of our Executive team, so that our people truly have a voice at the table. The team have started launching several initiatives, to gain more internal insight, to make Future a fantastic place to work. With these projects, such as regular feedback interviews, we are trying to make our workplace as transparent as possible for all employees on our commitment to deliver the things they think are important and certainly to surface any issues to the executive team. For us to keep moving forward we need to be able to adapt with the market and be agile. However, magazines are still a huge contributor to our revenues and we value the people that work incredibly hard to produce these. Future’s current position in this changing market is because of the employees and we are proud of their flexibility and dedication towards our amazing brands. It is true that we are a PLC and therefore we must always think commercially - our share price has risen substantially which shows that the market is responding well to our careful investments back into our business so we can diversify our revenue streams and continue to grow our business. We must stay ahead of the competition and this means making tough decisions, staying focused and constantly evaluating our operations and where our resources are best used. We wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

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5.0
15 Jan 2026
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CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good pay Great benefits Cares about work-life balance

Cons

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1.0
6 Feb 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Everyone is super engaged with their work - Teams meet and share their progress regularly - Remote work that respects your timezone

Cons

- Unbearable amounts of micromanagement - Questionable journalistic ethics, e.g. "reviewing" products that have merely been unboxed and photographed, as well as excessive AI authorship - Extremely misleading work expectations — was told in interviews that I would be working on one story per day, resigned when I was expected to handle more than 15 in a week - Very reluctant to grant PTO or sick days — work "missed" while off is expected to be made up for twofold, and I was told at one point while sick with the stomach flu to "get over it" and "just work on 'easy' stuff today"

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