Highsnobiety Reviews

3.4

50% would recommend to a friend

(72 total reviews)

David Fischer

69% approve of CEO

24% positive business outlook

Highsnobiety has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 72 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Highsnobiety employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Media and communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

72 reviews
1.0
1 May 2020

Stay Far, Far Away

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The occasional free pair of sneakers. Decent events, some cool colleagues.

Cons

The company has been on a downhill trajectory for at least the last 2 years. It's not a coincidence that this is when the CFO came on board and brought on investors. Since then it's been terrible decision after terrible decision and employees that gave years of their lives to the company have had to pay the price. The company used to preach commendable values like promoting from within, fostering a collaborative environment, creating a culture of transparency etc. There might have been a time where that was true but those days are long gone. In its wake is the company equivalent of a totalitarian regime: do what your boss says or get out. Senior management only enforces this culture by glorifying its leadership on social media with public adulation. The result is a leadership team that is empowered to do whatever it wants while the rest quietly acquiesce for fear of retribution. And make no mistake, this is by design. The CEO has a tendency to fall in love with bullies and Highsnobiety is now run only by bullies, nearly all of which have 3 things in common: they're straight, white, and male. This is especially disturbing when considering the culture Highsnobiety represents. Additionally, don't bother saying anything to HR because that will only backfire and the company will use whatever you said in confidence as a way of getting back at you. This is one of the company's biggest open secrets and other reviewers have said as much. If you're lucky enough for them to hold what you tell them in confidence, you can be assured that either 1. nothing will be done about it or 2. it'll be bungled in such a way that the end result is worse than when you brought it to them. In short, HR is the enemy of the people at Highsnobiety and is simply the last line of defense before senior management. It's telling that the HR team is now replying to all of the recent negative reviews with a stock message. That should tell you everything you need to know about the empathy levels of these people. What else? The majority of the workforce is in Berlin, a fact Highsnobiety constantly takes advantage of. The company knows there are no jobs to be had in the city so it uses that fact to treat people poorly and pay them just enough to get by. The con list goes on and on but if you made it this far there's a good chance you've gotten the point by now and are strongly considering turning back while you can. On the off-chance Highsnobiety makes it through the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, it'll remain an awful place to work. Do yourself a favor and stay far, far away. Don't let the occasional new pair of sneakers or Highsnobiety-branded merch fool you.

1.0
31 Jan 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Opportunities to work on some cool projects - Free lunch Friday's - Summer Friday's

Cons

- Upper management isn't bad....they're horrible...terrible...awful people. They hire the most privileged "senior management" who pretends to work better than their actual quality of work. Let's pretend we're working all day.. let's walk around acting like we're super important when you're actually gossiping, online shopping, and creating more unnecessary work for everyone else. They say "we're all like family" here... but if you don't drink the kool-aid consider yourself out of this fake bs family as quickly as you came into it.

2.0
13 May 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Very talented colleagues, some creative freedom, cool networking opportunities, good office location, fun travel experiences

Cons

Lack of structure, organization + support that has ultimately created a toxic work environment. There's no return on investment in terms of working hard and exceeding goals set by managers- false promises of raises and promotions that will never ever see the light of day. Bad bosses are rarely held accountable for their wrongdoing and continue to thrive while everyone beneath them suffers. Every editorial restructure is executed with no clear vision or integrity. There is no real transparency across the board. Layoffs have been messy and executed very carelessly. This company is not invested in its employees or their career growth and there is no job security. Diversity and inclusion no longer exist internally at this brand which continues to exploit the culture for clout and profit.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 72 Reviews

Glassdoor has 108 Highsnobiety reviews submitted anonymously by Highsnobiety employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Highsnobiety is right for you.