Great brands, good work-life balance but low equity & diversity - Anonymous employee Instrument Employee Review

3.0
Sep 14, 2021
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Overall, kind, talented, and highly motivated people who love what they do and are eager to contribute - Healthy work-life balance (at least on my team) - Great brands and interesting work to have on your resume - Flat, collaborative teams

Cons

- Inequity in raises and promotions across the company (the reason I left), you have no understanding of why some people get promoted and others don't - Performative diversity - They are trying to improve and HR is working hard but the current leaders are mostly white and from Portland and suffer from groupthink and bias. They say they care but actions speak louder than words and I don't see any meaningful change to address discrimination or uplift minority voices. - Lack of transparency and avoidance of talking about hard issues - related to the point above but in general leaders deal with conflict by ignoring it instead of addressing it. They are more concerned with people-pleasing than doing the right thing. - Below market pay (in the name of getting to work on big brand projects)

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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