While many colleagues were great to work with, the overall culture was extremely difficult—honestly one of the worst I’ve experienced. Most departments operated in silos, and it was surprisingly common for people to ignore Slack messages, emails, or tags in internal systems, with little accountability.
There were also clear issues with performance and management. People who made major mistakes that impacted clients were often promoted, while some managers lacked basic people management skills despite overseeing very capable teams. Leadership often came across as egotistical, distant, and lacking empathy, with little emphasis on recognition, appreciation, or work-life balance.
I was frequently criticized for having a direct (but still respectful) communication style and experienced ongoing sexism. The environment felt highly hierarchical, with noticeable favoritism. Workloads were consistently 2-3x industry standard—far beyond what felt reasonable—while pay was below industry standards.
Overall, the company felt like a disorganized early-stage startup, but without the usual upsides like flexibility or sufficient PTO, despite the long hours. Burn-out was common and accepted—never seen as something to address or prevent.
