Swan Studio Reviews

2.9

50% would recommend to a friend

(8 total reviews)

43% positive business outlook

Reviews by job title

8 reviews
1.0
20 Oct 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Most of the other colleagues were really good people and the only reason we all survived each day was leaning on eachother.

Cons

- Workload is consistently unmanageable, most people end up working late nights or weekends to keep up, often on tasks far beyond their original role or pay grade. - Expectations keep shifting (and growing!) with little context, direction, or recognition. Feedback is always vague, inconsistent, or purely subjective from people with no more experience than yourself. - Performance reviews include unrealistic KPIs and “metrics” that don’t align with actual workload or resourcing (like impossible and also so beyond your pay when you are doing 50+ hrs pw). Some KPI’s are completely subjective too, so even when targets are met, there’s no real reward. - High-pressure culture with VERY poor leadership and honestly no EQ from the 2 top people. Saw multiple people burn out or have panic attacks at work. - Promotions and pay-rise promises are used as incentives to keep people around, but they rarely materialise (and if they magically do, it’s minimal). - Clear favouritism, a few “chosen” staff are treated differently (/they just are okay with the carrot dangle for their own circumstances eg. sponsorship), while others are undervalued. You will need to check your pay/super is correct each payslip (if expat actually check they set up the account instead of just pretending). - Client experience is inconsistent; smaller clients receive little to no attention while high-paying ones get all the focus. They also shifts hands frequently due to below point. - Extremely high turnover, more than a dozen people left within 12ish weeks, and continues to play out, which speaks volumes. - Few people were also let go a week or less before their probation ended (6months) with no warning or prior negative feedback (also just sent packing and pay wasn’t processed on the day as per legal requirement). - Just wouldn’t risk it. Every workplace has occasional crappy management and long hours, but you should at least find a place that you are paid fairly, have room for meaningful growth and be treated with respect. This is not here.

1.0
18 Oct 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great teammates at the time

Cons

- Leadership that constantly demands more without defining what ‘more’ is - Unrealistic expectations of workload and capacity - Responsibilities FAR exceeded what was agreed upon in the interview stages (was working 16 hour days on multiple occasions) - Culture of favouritism

1.0
28 Oct 2025

No salary is worth it

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- The only pro was (most of) the team thanks to our shared disdain towards the work and management. They made the work day bearable.

Cons

- Overworked and underpaid for the amount of work (task distribution was terrible and made zero sense - certain colleagues were doing more than others but were paid less). - Expected to juggle 6+ clients at once and consistently overdeliver beyond scope - often required to create extra assets the client wasn’t even paying for, just to keep them happy. - Leadership lacks empathy and emotional intelligence. Genuine support is non existent. - Staff were made redundant or dismissed without warning or valid reason (multiple were right before their 6 month probations!). Witnessed staff being let go EOD and having to just pack up and leave. - Minimal onboarding. Be prepared to build out multiple decks and present to clients within your first few weeks, with little to no guidance or training. - Payroll errors were frequent: myself and others were underpaid super, taxed incorrectly, and had to chase up missing pay and miscalculated leave. - Promotions and pay rise promises were made to staff and rarely delivered (and are still being used to keep naive employees around). - You’re only recognised when you produce results, otherwise, you’re invisible (occasionally, not even a hello in the morning). - Very obvious favouritism. Certain employees received leniency or special treatment (including discreet sponsorship arrangements and hush hush leadership promotions). - Unclean and poorly maintained office. The fridge was a crime scene. Cleanliness is the bare minimum, but clearly not a priority. - Embarrassingly high turnover - 13 people left within 5 months and all were employed for less than a year. Need I say more?

Viewing 1 - 3 of 8 Reviews

Glassdoor has 8 Swan Studio reviews submitted anonymously by Swan Studio employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Swan Studio is right for you.