Where to begin - first of all the pay is well below the industry average. The company preys on people coming straight out of college by offering a competitive internship programme which does often turn into a contract role, but this suits the needs of the company as staff have no prior experience as to what it is like to work in an actual professional environment. Management was hugely toxic and created an opressive, divisive environment. Staff are directly asked not to communicate with one another so that discrepancies in how people are treated are not uncovered. Very valuable staff members are treated so poorly, made to feel like they are lucky to have a job and slated by upper management despite being hugely important to the company - this is a psychological move by management to undermine staff and give them imposter syndrome so they work even harder. There is constant secrecy regarding how the company is performing and deliverables promised to clients are massively inflated and can never be reached - the blame is then placed on staffers despite upper management being the ones who made the unrealistic promises to clients. Also, I invite you to look through the brand's various social media platforms and have a look at the follower/engagement ratios - you'll certainly find some discrepancies. Editorial staff members are told their jobs can easily be replaced by algorithms so that they feel lucky to have their jobs. Any public relations professionals reading this please know that the items you send journalists to review go to a "shelf" where upper management take things at their leisure. Journalists are asked to write articles about these items without ever using them. God forbid you open a makeup item or take up a PR's offer to attend an event - you will be accused of "stealing from the company." The freebies often go in the pockets of upper management member's friends, clients and children, before whatever is left at the end of the year being divvied out among all staff members. Don't expect a Christmas bonus, expect a bag of expired makeup and nappies. This is one of those companies that will say "hey guys, we're getting pizza on Friday" as some kind of incentive, but they expect you to destroy your mental health and work your fingers to the bone all week and then act like your bosses are the best people in the world for ordering a bumper deal from the local pizzeria. Client services and upper management have the idea that anyone can be a journalist and expect writers to create an exorbinant amount of commercial work without understanding the need for organic editorial content to pad it out, and then wonder why the sites perform so poorly. STAFF TURNOVER IS INSANE. People quit (or are the victim of having to quit after being bullied into it) and are "made redundant" but not given appropriate compensation for the redundancy, and are then replaced immediately by a more junior person who is clearly accepting a lower salary than you were. To the women reading this who currently work there, please get out before working there destroys your self esteem, your mental health and your professional reputation. The company is seen as a joke by the wider industry and the time you serve there will not do anything for your CV. Also despite being a hub of parenting websites they do not offer health benefits or maternity compensation. People have been "made redundant" directly after returning from mat leave. Oh also you will be asked to write fake positive reviews on this website to drown out the honest ones which is quite mortifying.
