Absolute Digital Media Reviews

Firstly, I think it's important when the world gets back to normal to look into how companies treated their employees during Covid-19, as it speaks volumes about them. In this case, basically half the employees were made redundant (prior to lockdown and before the real 'panic' had set in, almost as if they had been waiting for an opportunity to get rid of staff...), with one weeks notice (that had to be worked to full capability/responsibilities), and no redundancy pay. The right to be furloughed (as announced by the government) was rudely laughed off by them with excuses and not taken seriously or even considered, despite emotional appeals that it would help their staff. The other half of staff not let go of were only allowed to WFH (despite all jobs having the capability to) after lockdown was announced, and people who had long commutes/sick relatives were still asked to come in. The way ALL the staff has been treated through this issue is nothing short is disgusting. But what did we expect when normal working life was this way, too... Most of the reviews of the company are short, and emotional. I have therefore tried to compile a very honest and comprehensive review about some of the aspects of working at ADM: Relies on apprentices/cheap labour: The majority of the workforce is made up of apprentices on less than minimum wage/money subsidised by the government. This means you could be a client paying lots of money, with the majority of the campaign work being done by untrained apprentices. They have the exact same expectations of apprentices as of 'regular' workers. Essentially, as an apprentice you'll be doing the same work as everyone else, just on less money. Also, you won't have travel for when travelling to the apprentice training centre paid for, and you'll have to do all your apprentice work outside of working hours. PLEASE do your apprenticeship somewhere where you will learn valuable skills and aren't just being used as a bum-on-seat to get the slog done. The work is incredibly boring: It is DULL, the clients are dull (and often difficult to work on ethically, think payday loans and cosmetic surgery...), some of the clients are internal (ie, owned by the bosses - so they're not even 'real', outside companies) and are mainly just ways of getting commission via affiliate/referral links (I won't go into the ethics of this...) and some of the work isn't entirely above board anyway (the links are paid for, keyword stuffing). But if boring and dubious work was the only problem i wouldn't be writing the review - I'd just deal with it, a job's a job etc. The problem is the culture of fear, which makes it a horrible place to work. Culture of fear: EVERYTHING you do is timed and recorded, and you MUST have a worksheet of a 7.5-8 hour day daily to essentially prove to management what you've been doing (you also provide a weekly and monthly timesheet too, despite sending one every single day). Everything is monitored. If your toilet break is too long you're in trouble. If you have a gap of an hour on your worksheet you're in trouble. Caught looking at a text? Trouble. The bosses are almost never in as they are usually on holiday (must be nice!) so they use security cameras to watch over staff. Literally you will be at your desk with no one watching you, and then receive an email to stop looking at your phone and even to 'take your smart watch off' (!!) because you're being watched in the cameras. I've never worked somewhere where both my work is monitored so constantly (by the time sheets which are looked at by management, and your 'line manager' constantly nagging you), and where personal movements are so monitored. You're scared to do anything but work, oftentimes not even to talk to the person next to you. It's micromanagement to the nth degree. There's constant semi-threats from everywhere; someone forgot to do something once, and the boss responded that he 'might forget payday, then' - this fear creates a simply horrible atmosphere to work in. All of the promises made that make them a 'fun agency' such as friday drinks, team activities etc are simply taken away should the bosses be unhappy. Lunch times are in 'slots' (you don't get to choose the time) and are one hour exactly - if you're a minute late back to the desk you'll be in trouble. Even the radio privilege (literally just a radio playing in the office, and the one thing that made life worth living) is turned off if the bosses are unhappy. This is NOTHING like a real London digital/ad agency at all - it's more like a cross between a school and a workhouse. No sick pay: This was a new one for me, no sick pay and 'warnings' if you're off more than 3 days over a certain period - I was given a warning after taking a day off for illness during Coronavirus - can you imagine being told by the government to stay at home if you feel ill only to be slapped with a verbal warning when you go back to work! You also have to complete a return to work form every time even if you're only off for a day, which is weirdly invasive (asks if you're pregnant... feels like that's *not* okay to ask?!) This lack of sick pay and warnings if you are off means the office is constantly sick as no one takes days off out of a) fear and b) due to the financial repercussions. You will essentially constantly be ill. You will be treated with zero respect: Despite the fact you'll be doing all the boring, dull, laborious work no one else wants to do, for less pay than industry average, will be expected to work over your contracted hours and won't be able to expect any 'lax' on rules despite this (aka, asked to stay for 'training' for two hours after work but are 5 minutes late the next morning? You're still in trouble), please be aware you'll still receive *zero* respect. Being talked to awfully and being made to cry oftentimes is pretty standard practice. You'll constantly get nasty emails from management, demanding you work harder, faster, take on more work... and because you MUST be productive for 8 hours a day (truly, not even possible - most people lie to make up time on their timesheets), you'll feel like a hamster, constantly running on a wheel. PLEASE do not ignore the negative reviews. I told the recruiter my concerns about the reviews and they told me they were 'from one disgruntled employee and a lie'. Please don't ignore them. This is why I've left a fully comprehensive (and honestly very fair - I haven't even gone into the emotional/mental health effects working for this business can have on you) review for you to make your own mind up whether you want to work here. To sum up: after being made redundant with no pay during Covid-19, I would literally be better off had I worked for mcdonalds or nandos - financially and mentally. Never in a million years did I think I'd be urging young people to choose working retail over a 'real' job but - please consider anything over applying here. However, I can say I am MUCH less anxious and happier not working there. So, every cloud!