Cling Capital Reviews

1) Location - The office location was less than ideal for several coworkers. Some coworkers had over an hour and a half commute each way and despite being told there is WFH Flexibility, they were expected to come in each day. Several female coworkers expressed that they were being cat-called and harassed when coming to/leaving from the office to which the owner brushed it off by saying “they’re harmless. They won’t do anything.” Walking down the street you would regularly find new piles of feces and needles all over the street. There was never any parking. 2) Manual Labor - Several times during inventory hauls, office workers were expected to move truckloads of inventory for no additional compensation because the owner didn’t feel like paying movers. Risk of injury was very high, as there was no elevator to the roof so employees had to carry pallets of inventory up flights of stairs. One employee had expressed that they were healing from a broken bone but was still expected to help out as well. 3) Benefits - This is where things get complicated, as everyone was told something different. Employees who had been there for years had no benefits (no paid holidays, no PTO, no sick days). One time a coworker caught Covid and was expected to still work from home and be back in office within a few days. But for the newer employees, they were offered benefits only to have them taken away upon starting. In my case, I negotiated for a salary with 3 weeks of PTO and upon arriving got told I was hourly and that if I didn’t work I wouldn’t be paid for the time off. In addition to that, I considered enrolling in the 401K program but was told I had to wait 6 months before I was eligible. Unsurprisingly, most new hires had either fired or quit before they could reach that point and those who were eligible for it had said they waited months to actually be paid for the amount they were told the company would match. In my case, it took 6 weeks of me holding them accountable (along with several employees quitting or being let go) in order for me to get the offer I negotiated for. However there was a catch because even when I was using PTO, or enjoying a Sunday evening, I’d still be getting texts and emails from the 23 year old self-proclaimed CFO/COO asking me to work. Respecting personal boundaries, especially when it came to time off, was a very very big struggle for them. 4) Compensation - Compensation was always a struggle…with everyone in the company. There was no pay scale - in some cases, a new hire was making more than their manager. If you were offered salary, they’d trick you and tell you that no one is salaried and you’re hourly. In my case, I was also offered equity but was told that doesn't happen. If you worked overtime, double check your pay stub because there may be a few dollars missing. If you bring it up to management though, they might yell at you in front of the office. If you managed to get your salary that you negotiated for, they made sure to work you into the ground. They pay far below average for the positions they offered, and if someone quit or left, they would just throw that person’s responsibilities onto the next person in line without additional compensation rather than hiring a replacement. 5) Work/Life Balance - None. Literally none. If you weren’t in office, expect a text from that 23 year old self-proclaimed COO asking why you’re not in. If you were on “PTO”, expect a follow up text asking you to work from home, a suggestion to do extra hours during the week, or a suggestion to do additional hours from home during the week after leaving the office (from your personal computer, of course). If not, then based on their track record of only retaining new employees for 4ish Months, it’s safe to assume they’d be looking to let you go because, as they said “everyone is replaceable.” They also offered early dismissal on Fridays (leave at 3 PM) but did not live up to it. If you left at 3, they gave you a hard time. The work week was not a full 40 hours - but you were expected to do 40 hours or more if you were paid hourly. If you successfully got them to pay you a salary then you were told “salaried means more than 40” and expected to do 60. Management lies about their hours and experience all the time - the most notable occurrence being the 23 year old COO claiming he did 60 hours a week for 2 years in a corporate job while pursuing his MBA at 21 years old…a quick look through his LinkedIn would show that he hasn’t stayed at any company for 2 years and none of them are considered corporate - just startups (and no state university would schedule classes for the entire program around your work schedule). Despite management clocking out early on Fridays, showing up late, and leaving early, employees were expected to do as many hours as possible without being compensated fairly. 6) Management - Probably the worst part about the company. I know startup culture can be a bit different from corporate culture. There’s usually less structure, but here there was none. Employees were incredibly micromanaged, overworked, and were constantly out of the loop as to what’s incoming, when it will arrive, etc. They did not listen to employee suggestions. There was no planning, employees just had to figure it out. The people managing the company are not good leaders at all. Favoritism and nepotism played big roles in day to day operations. They avoid confrontation, but tend to push the boundaries of personal space. Several employees have caught management stalking their social profiles or reading their work conversations (since everything was ran from a shared account). If you asked them to stop, and to not reach out during your personal time off, they were offended. Management does not respect personal time and expects you to work for them and make that your only priority. The entitlement and lack of professionalism and respect toward another human is insane.

In the beginning, Alrossa was an awesome place to work as the owner would hire people based on the concept of having good energy, knowing you could train a skilled employee, but not train someone to be a positive addition. Once there was a rebranding into "Cling Capital" the change was negative. It was all in the name. Cling(y) Capital(ism.) As the company grew, the owner tried to turn corporate and greed was evident. It was never a secret that staff was undervalued and there was favoritism. There was no such thing as satisfactory work. The rules from hiring had always changed and people would be scolded about changes they were unaware of, changes made over night. While the owner meant well, his management skills were lacking. Now you'd think that when we became one of the big boys there would be benefits that met the new hiring requirements. We thought wrong, there were no benefits, no PTO, no paid holidays (holidays that staff was required to have off.) When you had a requested vacation or a sick day, you were expected to work a full day from home. We were being micromanaged all while being expected to "figure it out" on our own. Meetings with managers were constantly pushed and rescheduled with no notice. People were getting fired with no warning because they were "easily replaceable." Except when they got fired or quit the rest of the work fell on other staff with no salary increase. The favoritism was extremely evident when new hires, with no experience, were receiving starting offers of triple what staff of several years were receiving. Some staff would stroll into the office at 11am (during the interview we were told that starting time was between 9-9:30am) while other staff would get reprimanded for arriving at 9:20am. The in office work week was 36 hours but if we didn't meet 40 hours, we were reprimanded, yet there is no computer provided to WFH. Fridays were half days and in the office (with no lunch) .. but SOME staff were allowed to work from home due to travel. Regardless of the work day, the travel time does not change.. so why were some people allowed to stay home, while others were not? What was sold as a super laid back fun job turned out to be a nightmare.