Smoke and Mirrors - Anonymous employee Joybird Employee Review

Consider this a ZERO-STAR review. -COMMERCE. Yes, it's close to many of the "core" employees (aka, the ones that matter more than anyone else - I'll get to that in a sec), but it's awful for everyone else. Sometimes, they bandy about moving somewhere more fairly located for everyone but, at the end of the day, it's the needs of the founders and their close circle that matter the most -one word: NEP. O. TISM. So much. So, so much. There are certain "protected" people in the office who can do no wrong no matter what because they're friends, family or SOs with the founders. In a start-up environment, it makes sense that the first group of employees will be pooled from that group, but when outside hires start, they need to be held to the exact same standard as everyone else. Oh, they'll tell you that everyone is equal and no one is protected, but that's utter BS and everyone (at least the outside hires, lol) knows it. There have been several employees quit over one specific person (who, I believe, the other negative review was referring to, honestly), but that person has faced virtually no repercussions whatsoever. Good, hard-working, extremely talented people who were open and honest with management about why they left quit for nothing - the most this person got was a few stern "talking-tos" and promises to the rest of the staff that he/she would be "better." Nooooope. Also, if you want to know who the protected people are, look for anyone in a numbered baseball shirt - yep, at the last Christmas party, a select, special few were presented with these shirts as a way to recognize them as the OGs - and the protected people. -echoing the other negative review here: there's zero job security and upper management is so shady and absolutely uncommunicative with employees that you live in fear every day that you'll be let go. And because the "execs" at Joybird (term used extremely loosely here) believe themselves to be renegades, Silicon Valley-wannabes who just happen to make furniture instead of innovative software and devices, they're all good to unceremoniously and cold-heartedly let go of anyone who stumbles. They love to say "we value heart and work ethic over skills," painting themselves as nurturers and Joybird as a safe environment to grow and blossom, but no way. Absolutely not. If someone is unsuited, they're gone, regardless of how passionate they are about the product. No ifs, ands, or buts. That is, if you're not in the inner circle, obviously! -you're practically forced to work around the clock. At first, I, personally, didn't really mind because I found the work rewarding and genuinely liked what I did there and was able to see the results of my actions. But after months and months of always being "on call" (even when I took some of that precious flexible time off - most nights I'd leave work and go home and go back to work), and getting no benefit or reward, I was told during a meeting with mgmt that if they saw me "working more off-hours and weekends" that they might "consider" me for a raise - even though I'd been doing that for the full year I'd been there. I was floored. I already had no life because I was virtually working round-the-clock. In short, Joybird only values those who completely give up their work/life balance to devote all their time and energy to the company; those who stay hours late are applauded and rewarded. But those who only work a few hours overtime every day and give up their nights/weekends aren't doing enough or putting enough in. It's impossible to keep working at that pace for so long, especially when there's no benefit. -misogyny. Lots of it. The women plan the parties and the guys come; they clean up, the guys go back to work. My direct (male) manager once told me - verbatim - when an outside vendor we were working with changed her mind on a project that it "must be her time of the month." If you're a woman, you won't be treated as an equal. I saw one of my male coworkers receive generous raises (I was, perhaps accidentally but probably to rub it in my face, forwarded emails by my manager that explicitly stated such) while I wasn't even considered for one, even at my one-year mark. The men use language like "bro" all. the. time, and while that may be a symptom of a "young" company, it's not exactly encouraging or empowering for women trying to get on an equal playing field with male counterparts who may or may not be as qualified as they are. It's intimidating. -lack of transparency. Tons of secret meetings, sometimes all day long, which just inspires more fear about job security. Absolutely no communication to team members or subordinates, but mgmt still expects you to magically know everything that's going on. A lot of the time it feels like mgmt is suspicious of how you're spending your time with zero actionable items or accountability being assigned. They're unwilling to talk you through things, but if you're not running on some invisible schedule, you'll be reprimanded. -management tends to outright screw with you. My direct manager canceled a series of meetings with me for WEEKS before I left, simply to prove (I believe - again, no concrete evidence but a lot of anecdotal from experience at Joybird) that I wouldn't stand up and insist we had a meeting. Why play head games? There are so many at Joybird - with everyone. -also, all the positive reviews here were written after marketing approached employees to add positive reviews to make Joybird look better on Glassdoor - I know for a fact two of them were and the rest look like the same positive propaganda. Fake.