PEI used to be a really great company - very social, decent salaries, lots of perks and a really nice environment. Then, about 18 months ago, new investors came in and the board massively overpromised on growth trajectories. As a result, the company has done a full 180: all social events have been cancelled, a lot of people were recently made redundant, and all staff are being forced to go into the office 3 days a week. This is being tracked by HR, and if you don’t meet your office attendance quota, you will be called in for a disciplinary meeting. The mood is extremely low because people are struggling financially (the average pay rise for 2025 was 2.5% - below inflation, and then the mandatory 3 days a week policy was introduced shortly after, which has made things much worse because of additional commuting costs), but the company ultimately doesn’t care because they’re so focused on trying to cut costs. In fact, they keep making additional little changes that don’t sound like much, but they’re having an impact on staff - things like not providing snacks or cold drinks anymore because it’s an unnecessary expense. During the last Town Hall, someone raised a question about how morale is extremely low right now and they’d like to know what PEI is going to do to tackle it, and the CEO’s response was, “There isn’t a morale problem, and if your morale is low, maybe that’s a personal issue.” It’s very clear the company doesn’t care about its staff anymore and it’s a huge shame, because only a couple of years ago things were very, very different.
