Pros
Pay (if you hit bonus target which is now impossible) Free fruit (not sure for how long as they have cut everything else). Everyone leaves at 5.30pm regardless of whether you have finished what you are working on. It's crazy. Literally like being at school. You would think they were smashing targets and didn't need to care too much. Free mice (if you like mice)
Cons
Redundancies every quarter - full disclosure I've just been made redundant last week along with 79 others - put in a room together and told we were out of a job. It's probably not the best time to write a balanced review, and I wouldn't have normally but they were cruel & heartless which is unforgivable. I get times are tough for news publishers but that doesn't excuse the behaviour of people who simply should now better (and that includes HR who are a joke of a personnel department). The company has an enormous overhead due to the crazy amount of C-Suite / MD's/ Senior Management. There is layer upon layer of management on massive 6 figure salaries and then a few lower levels like me. They get rid of the lower levels because they are all protecting themselves. The CRO of advertising has never spoken to me despite working here for 3 years and being my boss. Not once. A CRO responsible for revenue, presumably KPI'd on revenue as it is in his job title, and who has delivered double digit deficits on quarterly revenue for the last 4 quarters against targets already set on double digit decline. His job is fine though, obviously. The CEO is the most unapproachable, socially awkward person I've come across in any business. This is a media company and you need personality, charisma, charm as well as business acumen. Not someone who stares at the floor as they walk past you or looks frightened when you are both at the vending machine together and is forced into a casual conversation. He is ex Yahoo (who hardly set the world alight when he was at the helm) and he has brought his ex Yahoo mates with him. They are all safe from redundancy as well obviously. Audience - they are losing 90% of their digital audience as most content is now behind a paywall. It's a policy that the CEO put in place 6 months ago so if you are thinking of any role in advertising I would think again. The advertising department is shrinking rapidly to a handful of really senior people who do little work, get paid loads and have been there for decades. No surprise there. Not sure what they are KPI'd on. Maybe revenue like the CRO. Finally the advertising team is old school. They play the game in front of the right on members of the board, but at their core, with their "bants" and whisperings and sniggers they are racist, mysogynistic and homophobic. And if you don't conform to that model then you won't be down the pub with the select few or at your bosses private annual party at his pile in the country. The choice is yours.
