Pros
People. That’s it. There used to be amazing people who worked here. The kind that makes you want to level up. Unfortunately, most have left by choice or by force. I used to feel proud and lucky to be a part of something special. This feeling alone drove me to work harder and dedicate myself to the company. Too bad they killed off that energy/culture. That was priceless.
Cons
Lack of career development This was the biggest issue and continues to be a challenge. There is no clear direction. Career ladders are nonexistent, especially if you’re in a newer team. It’s one thing to be flexible and create new roles but it’s irresponsible to not plan for proper development just because you need someone to fill in a role in the moment. Teams are constantly changing without long term plans in mind and junior employees are the ones that suffer the most. Lack of transparency Many things were promised but never delivered. After the acquisition and the announcement to merge brands, many asked about a potential layoff in May 2023 during an AMA. This was a day after a conference that cost so much money and provided minimal value other than bringing the global offices to Toronto (during a recession when we’re missing targets already). Abi said there would be no layoffs as she didn’t see duplicates in functions. End of September 2023 was the beginning of layoffs due to “redundancy.” When called out during the first AMA after the layoff, Abi denied having promised such things. The May AMA was not recorded and no virtual participation was allowed. It was for those that were in person and there were 50+ people that heard her say there will be no layoffs. It’s not a surprise that CEOs lie to protect a company’s best interest but it just doesn’t sit well when someone goes on a lengthy speech about being transparent but then lie in the same breath. Inconsistent training/onboarding Each round of hires get different onboarding and training. That’s because they’ll ask anyone to train new employees without giving them the tools and guidelines to use when training someone. I’ve been tasked to onboard and train new employees a couple of times without proper notice. This obviously led to a poor experience for both parties involved.