No proper HR Department : The owner with no prior education or experience is the HR person. This becomes a real problem when one of the many relatives or personal friends they employ is harassing you.
Pay disparity: Salaries vary wildly even within the same job title. Female employees being paid less despite same education and experience as male peers.
Bare minimum benefits: No 401k match, very few PTO days comparatively. No accommodations whatsoever unless they are legally required to do so.
Cheap, astoundingly cheap: When working in an office was more common it took an act of Congress to get approval to order post it notes and pens. Now that remote work is more common they are saving on all those leases and rented space but still chose to layoff about 10% of the work force. They’ve also steadily increased the portion of employee cost for benefits while reducing the percentage they pay. It’s ok to look for ways to save money it it’s not ok to do it at the expense of the very people who made you richer.
Poor management and layoffs: Management is mostly family member or personal friends with no actual qualifications or the required temperament to manage. No diversity either, their management team with very few exceptions tend to be all white and all male. A few women or minorities have been given superficial “lead” roles and even still it’s alarming how little diversity there is.
Toxic business model: Their goal is to hire inexperienced recent college graduates and work them to death for a couple of years. Because they haven’t done any meaningful hiring in 10 years the population has aged, started families, are caring for aging parents, etc. Employees can’t or simply don’t want to work 12 hour days any longer but they don’t adjust to the changing needs of their workforce.
Remote workers do not have tools required: I’m working with people who don’t have a scanners or printers or even proper desks or chairs. This company services billions of dollars, but can’t see to it 2 years into the pandemic that employees have basic office equipment to do their jobs?
In summary, find a company that wants you to stick around and backs it up with action by investing in their people, not just the occasional $10 stipend for a fast food lunch that’s suppose to replace the customary holiday party.