- Multiple rounds of layoffs that felt extremely misguided and detrimental. At the time of this writing, the strategy "department" is just 1 person, the creative department has about 3 full-time people left, and the CFO of the company left (which is a major red flag). Multiple senior creative positions (creative directors, designers, copywriters, etc) were laid off, resulting in poor leadership. The people left are still picking up the scraps and noticeably seem to work longer hours than before by being pulled into last minute projects and excessive crunch.
- Management seems to have no idea on how to build and foster a robust and talented in-house team, and instead, seem to have more trust in freelancers, partners, and vendors to do heavy lifting at times. Leads to awkward moments on who is doing what during projects, which can result in disorganization.
- Talking to the CEO and management feel unproductive and filler. Too many buzzwords and no action, using empty phrases like "see something, say something" or "you don't know what you don't know" which ironically, I don't know what that even means. Regardless, it feels like they are are stuck in old ways and talk too much with no action. This is a business with peoples livelihoods and income on the line, not a motivational quote to post on Facebook.
- This is a small agency, but tries to act like a big one at times. This hurts the company because they end up going after opportunities which, in my opinion, don't make any sense for our size and capabilities. A lot of hours feel wasteful. Instead of focusing on what we do well, we just throw things on a wall and see what sticks. When it does stick, we're supposed to feel excited when in reality, it's just more headaches, politics, and unnecessary crunch to deal with while already being a skeleton crew.
- Plagued with old agency thinking that relationships are "everything" when in reality, it's also your employees and the people who are actually doing the work and getting their hands dirty.
- While it is great that the CEO is part of the LGBTQ+ community, diversity can feel like an after thought for other underrepresented groups. It's upsetting, and I know previous employees who were people of color and in other underrepresented communities that expressed the same thoughts.