The most toxic and nepotistic work environment I've ever encountered - Advertising Director Future Employee Review

1.0
25 Feb 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

They have an impressive portfolio of tech brands. Whoop whoop!

Cons

The constant acquisition of new brands breeds a culture of fear among the rank and file as it generates an endless cycle of redundancies due to the"strip it down and rebuild" mantra. Everyone who you speak to in your first few days tells you "they get rid of people really quickly and quietly". The fact that the CEO appointed her own brother, with no experience of the media sales industry as the CRO should ring alarm bells about nepotism. Advice fed back up the line is either not passed on or ignored. Levels of staff churn are like nothing I've ever seen.

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Future Response
7y
Thank you for your review. I’m sorry to hear that you feared acquisitions, as growth, both organically and via acquisition, is an ambition of the Future business. We aim to integrate acquired businesses into the Future model as seamlessly as possible with minimal disruption. In some instances it is necessary to review structure and adjust accordingly, however this is conducted inline with local legislation and best practice. In 2018, Future made three acquisitions, which have been successfully integrated into the company. One of our values is that we are proud of our past and excited about our future, and we believe we live this every day. 2018 was Future’s most successful year to date. This would not have been possible without the employees who joined Future as new hires or those we were delighted to acquire during our journey. Together we are one Future. We are dedicated to attracting and retaining talented individuals. Employees are appointed to role on merit, so we are deeply disappointed that you feel appointment decisions are based on anything but this. We are committed to upholding transparency and always keep the company updated about any organisational changes. We encourage you to reach out to People & Culture at peopleandculture@futurenet.com with any concerns you have.

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Cons

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1.0
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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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