Worked here for a very short period of time, but definitely felt that it was enough to step away from it.
The team of employees was always lovely and I enjoyed my time spent with them. However, the lack of attention given to easing work-life balance and benefits was highly disadvantageous. While beautiful, working in a shared office space with a lack of assigned seats, uncomfortable seating, no monitors and bringing in my own laptop to work on all day was not pleasant. Furthermore, the lack of flexibility on day-to-day work, such as no hybrid arrangements, even rarely for a one-off or emergencies, and working 9-6 in the office everyday was tiring, especially considering the CEO was away for large periods at a time, and the team was small and fully online, hence we could’ve easily done our work away from the office. Combined with a very low salary for London, it just wasn’t viable.
In regards to the work environment and culture, I believe it was very micromanaged, with no space or freedom to share your own ideas or voice your opinion on subject matters. Whilst people had their own roles, I felt that there was no true direction or mission we were working towards, rather everyone (regardless of what their role was) was scrambling to get a new urgent project done.
From the moment I joined, I received barely any guidance from the CEO, the only truly senior position in the company that lacked true hierarchical structure (even though there were titles set in place which could’ve implemented well), and was left to figure stuff out on my own and shadow colleagues whilst working, despite being an entry level hire. I felt that I was constantly judged for wasting time or nitpicked at momentary things I did, even though I genuinely was trying to figure my way around and felt confused at times.
I believe the company’s products and what it’s trying to achieve is great, however there needs to be a complete change in management for a healthy work life for the team and to start working towards a common, clear goal.