How badly do you need the job? If the answer is anything other than REALLY BADLY, do not do it. Read ALL the reviews, and understand that the majority of the positive reviews were written by HR or senior leaders desperate to keep the place afloat. There’s been near-constant turnover over the last few years, and HR begs employees to write positive reviews, sometimes even compensating people on their way out for writing them.
The bottom line: GMMB offers you very limited opportunities for growth, way-below-industry-level pay, toxic work-life balance, and a name on your resume that is quickly becoming synonymous with “out-of-touch” in the industry.
If you read about GMMB’s reputation, keep in mind that it comes from two decades ago. In practice, GMMB is an embodiment of the failed campaigns they’ve taken on since then. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that old-fashioned senior leaders drive campaigns that are either carelessly slapped together or completely behind industry trends. This is if there’s any strategy at all. Most of the time, everyone is so overworked that they don’t have time to consider what makes sense. Know that almost every single one of the projects on their website was driven by someone who has since left GMMB. The truth is, if you’re smart and show any level of critical thinking, it’s very likely you will be ridiculously unhappy here.
For a company that preaches its values, it’s disappointing to see the way that senior leadership conducts business. Not only is it laughably outdated, it’s unethical. GMMB profits off of keeping staffers in the dark about their rights to negotiate fair salaries, hours and growth opportunities. They display work that’s in line with their “cause-based” approach, but that’s not the whole picture. And though they talk about diversity and inclusion, one look at the senior leadership suite will show you what their values really are.
Because of bad leadership, HR, and employees unaware of their value, the culture at GMMB is toxic. The evidence of this toxicity is in the fact that people have suffered serious health problems from being overworked at GMMB, and pretty much every scandal you can imagine has happened here. It’s nearly impossible to advocate for yourself, and HR is useless (there’s been constant turnover there too). People joke about it being a warped reality inside GMMB. You’re convinced you couldn’t have it better somewhere else and that your skills render you useless elsewhere. If you stay too long, this will become true.
