Room for improvement - Strategist Instrument Employee Review

2.0
Jan 21, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Some of the most talented designers and strategists out there. The output was always super high quality.

Cons

Concerning behavior from leadership, specifically around transparency, hesitation to do the right thing in the face of social justice. Lack of mentorship and transparency from managers. Unclear job responsibilities. A fair amount of favoritism and cliques. Not an inclusive culture, depending on the team. High POC turnover.

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Instrument Response
5y
Thank you for taking the time to write this review, and for the transparency of your experience with us. We are hopeful that our progress is being felt by current employees through our Career Progression Framework (for job clarity and consistency in expectations), committed transparency reports, and ongoing efforts to identify and dismantle the clique behaviors. We also appreciate your notation of the team differentiators, as this is an area of focus for us this year. While we want our independent teams to have autonomy, we also agree that inclusivity and consistency in how safe one feels, should not vary depending on the team. Thank you again, for your time with us and for sharing your experience.

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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