Toxic Company Culture, Super High Turnover Rate, CEO Worse Than Trump - Anonymous employee Surface Media Employee Review

1.0
13 Aug 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Free magazines? Otherwise, not a whole lot. Maybe the company's bi-weekly catered lunch (if that's still a thing), maybe. Being in the Starett-Lehigh building has some perks.

Cons

Company culture created by the CEO, Marc Lotenberg, promotes a lot of negativity via bullying, racism, sexism, ageism, etc. Notable quotes from Marc include: "Know why you don't get MLK Day off? ...do you see any black people here?" "Just like you don't hire a deaf waitress, don't hire a dyslexic designer." "Luxury has and always will include guns, weapons, bombs, self defensive items, etc." [as reason to not provide more sick leave] "the typical sickness is caused from not taking care of yourself, not eating well, not working out and poisoning the body with smoking, drinking and other chemicals" "You work for me 365 days of the year. I give you the weekends off to be nice." Super high turnover rate. In a two-month time period, over one-third of the staff either quit or set themselves up to be fired because the work environment had become so toxic. It's not a stretch to say lasting longer than a year there is a major accomplishment. They even forced a Designer to work all Thanksgiving day and weekend only to fire him when he returned on Monday. Also expected all employees, regardless of position, to stay past midnight every night on print weeks. Company frequently stiffs freelancers and vendors. They often made payments by the "squeakiest wheel gets greased" mantra and only paid vendors who would regularly call/email/etc. until they got paid. They lie in their press releases and media kits. A recent press release said there were "over 30 employees," which is completely untrue unless a dozen employees were hired (and none left) since my departure. Media kits blatantly defraud advertisers with false numbers. And all previous Glassdoor reviews were either written by interns, just hired employees, or sales staff encouraged by the CEO to post something nice. Also, there's no microwave in the office because management believes microwaves cause cancer. If you eat anything deemed "unhealthy," you will be criticized, if not by the CEO himself, by other mid-level "managers" who do his bidding. Ironically, he fills the kitchen with sugary snacks like oreos, gummy candies, twizzlers, etc.

Explore other reviews about Surface Media

5.0
26 June 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

It is a good company

Cons

It is ambitious company so fast-paced

2.0
31 Aug 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Working at Surface will enforce the skills of debate, navigating internal politics, and being resourceful (all skills undoubtedly useful to have mastered in one’s career). Gives thick skin, which is great. Most of my colleagues, especially those I work most directly with are incredibly talented, strong, smart, and optimistic. This has allowed us to get through some tough times. If anything, how far Surface had come is a testament to the hardworking, optimistic, and motivated individuals that make up the company. They impress me every day.

Cons

CEO preaches about dedication to “quality and craftsmanship” from one side of his mouth—to clients, advertisers, the legitimate design community at large, or anyone he can use Surface to get something out of—then leads and directs in a way to make it impossible to produce quality, often intentionally directing or imposing circumstances such that employees have no choice but to produce sub-quality work. Cutting corners in business ops and relationships until there will be no more left to cut. For freelancers and employees, the CEO sees Surface as a portfolio trophy. This outlook manifests in ugly ways that create a toxic internal work environment and poorly treated freelancers.

8
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