Sustainable Living Lab Reviews

Working hours are not as agreed upon – apart from long hours which many reviews have detailed, one role requires working perpetual weekends, however this is not mentioned at all during the interview process. Few weeks into this scam, employee was informed that they were hired because they didn’t seem to be Christian and so can probably work Sundays. Employee was Christian. The only thing sustainable about SL2 is its use of vindictive methods to keep itself afloat. Company sustains itself by underpaying and double dipping employees. As a result, employees are overworked and abused, receiving calls 5 mins before 6pm with new tasks, expecting to dedicate every single ounce of their time and being to their work alone. Veera and management colludes to think of ways to fire people they don’t like, jumping at any sliver of opportunity to let said people go. For size (and your entertainment), some reasons that have led to employees being let go (or heavily nudged into quitting) include: - Exuding a vibe of disloyalty (yes that’s right) - Hearsay from someone that employee has mentioned wanting to leave (was not clarified) - Having differing opinions that employee was not afraid to vocalize - Dedicating off-work time to a personal passion project rather than to the company - Found out that employee removed him as a Linkedin connection, concluding that there is now no trust - Asking for permission about something, igniting Veera’s iron fist of wanting to “eradicate this permission seeking behaviour” because “this is not the army”. Any misalignment to his Stalinist Leadership that Veera detects is automatic ammunition for accusing employee of culture misfit. When questioned, his next line of defense is “I don’t need to justify myself”. Subsequently, employees’ departure is announced as them wanting to seek other opportunities for their own growth that SL2 is unfortunately (boo hoo) unable to provide.

The company is only 'sustainable' in name. Its practices and values hardly reflect what it claims to be. The events are rarely organised with sustainability practices. This leads to a lot of wastage. Work culture wise, it is driven by the founder's erratic temper. There is expectation for you to put in the hard work with long hours but with very little renumeration. There are many opportunities to learn about technology and sustainability at SL2, but it often comes at a high social, emotional and mental cost. While pleasant to the community volunteers, the founder, Veera has a "you owe me" mindset when it comes to employees. From shouting vulgarities when angry, humiliating employees and claiming credit for their work, the founder displays poor leadership. Although there were some attempts at building a senior management, all decisions of the company were eventually handled by him - leaving no barrier between employees and him. Employees have no avenue (re: no HR) to voice grievances. The founder takes most issues as personal attacks against him. While he has the ability to bring good hardworking people into the organisation, many of them have left due to the toxic culture. I have seen colleagues cry out of frustration. Some of them were left burnt out after short stints at the company. Other than the culture, there is also no solid basis for most business strategies. It relies heavily on maker education workshops through a sister company to bring in revenue.