If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already seen the glossy LinkedIn posts from Humi and Employment Hero: “People First,” “Empowered Teams,” “Exciting New Chapter.” Let me save you some time, it’s all smoke and mirrors.
Before the acquisition, Humi had problems. Leadership was inconsistent, and there was a growing disconnect between the company’s values and its actions. But at least there was some sense of community, a shared drive to build something better, and a handful of strong people trying to make it work despite being ignored by a CEO who preferred to play visionary rather than actually lead.
Then Employment Hero entered the picture and what was left of the culture was obliterated overnight.
This wasn’t a “synergy.” It was an assimilation. Local leadership lost all influence. Canadian employees were sidelined in favor of top-down mandates from Sydney. Communication became a game of telephone across time zones, and morale fell off a cliff. No one knew what was going on, including the people supposed to be running things.
Culture at Humi now? Non-existent. It’s a ghost town of burned-out employees quietly job hunting while pretending to be engaged on all hands calls. Psychological safety is gone. Transparency is a joke. And anyone with talent or standards has either already left or is counting down the days. What you’re left with is performative optimism, middle management clinging to relevance, and a bloated org chart that feels more like corporate cosplay than a functioning tech company.
Kevin Kliman’s legacy? He built a house of cards, then handed it to a company known for razing everything to the ground in the name of “scaling.” He showed up when it was convenient and disappeared when accountability was needed.
Cons:
- Culture vacuum post-acquisition.
- Top-down chaos with no regard for local context.
- Meaningless values and empty rituals.
- Zero career development or mentorship, just “align to the vision” (whatever that means this week.)
- Overworked, under-informed, and constantly gaslit.
- EH CEO is the most insufferable, out of touch, mediocre, and obnoxious spoiled brat playing boss with daddy’s money that I’ve ever encountered. He also has a borderline creepy obsession with Elon Musk and it’s disturbing.
