Big Clients Small Infrastructure - Producer Instrument Employee Review

1.0
Nov 12, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Cool client portfolio for Portland, Oregon and very beautiful office

Cons

Instrument claims they're "different then other agencies" but it's not true. They're only focused on monetary growth without creating any infrastructure, training process or agency wide practices for their employees. As a producer, I found it impossible to understand how to succeed. The executive directors are technically in charge of managing the production discipline on top of finding all the new business and managing all of the other leads on their team which basically made it very difficult for them to provide support. I was told that I would be given training in my first month but I was thrown into the fire, left alone to guess what to do and then later completely torn apart for my mistakes in an "informal review" which was degrading and not constructive. Overall the management team at Instrument is just the leadership teams friends and folks who have worked there the longest but they're completely unqualified to manage people. The way employees are thrown around to different teams without their own opinion taken into consideration and against their own will makes for a completely disparate experience. It's a sink or swim environment and it matters if you're popular and who you know.

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Instrument Response
5y
We really appreciate this feedback and take seriously that your experience felt unsupported. We are focusing a lot of energy on training with a roll-out of an internal Career Progression Framework for direct managers and employees that will provide current employees a detailed and specific growth path for themselves, no matter what business team they are working on. Thank you again for your feedback and your time with us.

Explore other reviews about Instrument

5.0
Jun 26, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great company with great people. Seamless life, work balance, and a very nice company culture.

Cons

No big cons as far as my concern. The pay can be slightly better, but it's okay compared to other agencies' standards.

3.0
Jun 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The people here are great. Every team feels fairly connected, even for a 250+ person agency. Work/life balance is the best I've experienced at an agency so far. Pay is fair and scales depending on where you live and your experience overall. Work has the potential to be interesting, but most clients we bring in are not looking for ground-breaking work.

Cons

The benefits are not extraordinary, other than generous PTO. Recently removed a sabbatical program. Layoffs that come as a surprise, with scrambles only months later to fill the eliminated roles. Freelance hiring is hit or miss. Publicly-owned with a parent company that doesn't align with Instrument's morals. Leadership feels fairly disconnected and not genuinely interested in resolving the low morale amongst the larger team. Seemingly more interested in advertising themselves and using AI than in focusing on craft and high-quality projects. Constant leadership departures create anxiety.

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