WTWH Media Reviews

A few years ago, WTWH partnered with a private equity group in efforts to rapidly grow the company. They offered "shadow stock" to employees that they could cash in after a few years if the company hit its aggressive growth goals. I had heard about all the horror stories about private equity, so I saw the writing on the wall and began searching for new roles in the background. From every interaction I've had with my ex-coworkers since leaving, it seems like my concerns became a reality. Over the last few years, WTWH has let go of a huge number of veteran editorial, creative, and other business support roles. Not because of poor performance, but for executives to squeeze every drop of money they can from the company. Naturally, these fired employees also forfeit the "shadow stock" the company had told them they had accumulated while working there. Sorry no more bonus for you. If you are an individual contributor, be ready to have higher expectations put on your performance than most of the leadership. And sales are always put in priority above anything else. If you are in an editorial or content creation role also know that anything you do will always be secondary to anything the sales team decides they randomly want to sell to clients that day. This company felt like it had some kind of soul when I joined, but now that I am removed from it I realize how toxic it has become. The WTWH of today is unrecognizable from what it was even a few years ago.

WTWH offers limited career development. People managers (particularly on the medical brand) are often appointed based on tenure rather than aptitude, and they receive little training or coaching, resulting in few substantive check-ins with employees. Subordinates get evaluations, but subordinates aren’t allowed to evaluate their managers. Leadership frequently references “growth opportunities” and new roles, but requests tend to languish without follow-up; while individual contributors are told promotions aren’t available, several upper-management roles have been upgraded. Since the private-equity acquisition, annual raises have stalled as short-term profitability takes precedence, and many long-tenured employees (10+ years) have chosen to depart this year. No cost of living raises over the last two years. HR has not functioned as a neutral resource. HR knows how to handle the benefits part of the job. Repeated reports of manager hostility & micromanagement over the years have been acknowledged but not resolved. Several people have left because of bad managers, even after reporting them. The company invests in employee upskilling but does not pair it with the management practices needed to retain that talent, resulting in a poor return on investment.