Great people but growing pains - Anonymous employee Major Tom Employee Review

2.0
22 Oct 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Passionate team members who strive to deliver great work - people care about their clients. - Lots of effort in going towards socials, after-work beers/events etc.

Cons

- High turnover rates. Every week or two, someone has either quit, been let go or has left for another opportunity. Announcements for these leaves are vague and lack transparency - people in the office should know the exact reasons why - it's obvious when someone has been let go but is not addressed. - Hiring process needs to be looked at as there are concerns with some people not being up to par in skillset (and still not being let go). - Low salaries - management refuses to pay more for skilled employees and instead, lets them go so they can hire less skilled people for less pay. - Complacency in the office. - Sales process is questionable - always oversell on what we can do and in turn, often go over budget leading to low morale and unhappy clients.

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Major Tom Response
7y
While we are all ears for constructive feedback, this is harsh and inaccurate. Hopefully some of these facts help provide you with a new perspective... Full disclosure - our YOY voluntary turn over rate is 16.7%, which is below industry average for agencies (generally closer to 30%). Since January 1, 2018, we've had 5 people leave involuntarily. On average, this rate of turnover equates to approximately one employee per month across an agency where current headcount is 76 employees. When it comes to an employee leaving involuntarily, company policy is communicate via email unless you directly worked with that individual. This is done for several reasons, the most important being that the person exiting deserves to be treated with dignity, respect, and compassion throughout the termination process. This trumps other employees desire to know or curiosity. I can also say, with absolute certainty, there has never once been a Senior employee let go in favour of a more junior employee at a lower salary. Never happened. Has never even been a conversation at the Executive level. In terms of the hiring process, we put people through a phone screen, a values assessment, and a technical assessment complete with exercises and presentations. We check employment references. This is all in line, and in some cases is above and beyond what other tech organizations do. We pay at the 50th percentile - which means we pay fairly and competitively. I am happy to present data that supports this, should it be required. We do have areas that we need to improve, like every organization. We acknowledge those and are working towards making them better. Development continues to be an opportunity for us, and it's something we are looking at addressing. Major Tom isn't unique that meeting our employees expectations around development can be hard to manage while trying to manage and grow a business. That said, we've provided many opportunities for learning and had multiple promotions this year, and are looking at putting in place more formalized structures for development. The exciting thing about Major Tom is we are growing and rapidly changing and advancing as a business. While development may not always be a linear path, we do continually offer new technologies to explore, relocations to new cities, and new business segments. If you have further feedback, you are highly encouraged to have an honest and open face to face conversation with myself, or any other member of the senior leadership team.

Explore other reviews about Major Tom

4.0
7 June 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

Very inclusive culture. Great managers who are transparent about the company. Management listens to employees and is realistic about the business.

Cons

Career progression can be slow, and compensation is not the most competitive in the industry. The company also tends to take a conservative financial approach.

4.0
18 Mar 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

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Cons

Siloed work environment Capacity issues

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