Disgusting place to work. Avoid. - werkgeversreview Anonieme werknemer bij AME Research

Nothing more than a nicely blended team personality

Management is narrow-minded, especially Shaun — the CEO. Full of talk, full of empty promises that never materialize. Being visionary is fine, but you also need to understand the actual steps required to get there. Otherwise it is just fantasy. The company claims to be international, but in reality it feels more like a family-run business without strong professional credibility. Economists who were hired with strong academic and professional backgrounds end up being undermined by leadership coming from people with unclear qualifications, profiles, and experience, which is Shaun’s daughter lol The Indonesia team often becomes the scapegoat for problems that actually originate from the inability of the Australia team to deliver their work properly. Accountability does not seem to flow upward. For fresh graduates reading this review: I know the salary offered may look attractive and above market rate. Do not be tempted. The salary can become a trap that makes it harder for you to move later to companies with healthier and more professional cultures because your pay here may price you out of better environments. There is very little real professional development here. Do not expect meaningful growth.

Some intelligent and hardworking colleagues. Interesting market exposure. A few strong people trying to do good work.

Poor management and weak leadership. Owner insecurity appears to shape major decisions. Strong performers are not always supported. Political, low-trust culture. Merit often takes a back seat to control. Good people leave or are pushed aside. AME has some capable people, but in my experience the business is badly damaged by poor leadership and an insecure management culture. The core issue is not the work itself. It is the way the company is run. Decisions often felt driven by ego, control and internal politics rather than sound management or a genuine desire to build a strong team. What stood out most to me was seeing one of the only genuinely competent directors, who had helped build a substantial client base, effectively pushed aside after external client feedback appeared to identify him as a key driver of the business. From where I sat, that moment said everything about the culture. Instead of backing strong performers and using their success to strengthen the business, leadership seemed more concerned with protecting the owner’s position. It created the impression that competence was welcome only until it became too visible. That has a corrosive effect on the whole workplace. People learn that being talented, commercially valuable or respected by clients does not necessarily make you safer. In fact, it can make you more exposed. The result is a low-trust culture where politics matters more than merit, where good people are undermined rather than developed, and where the business ends up driving out some of the very people it most needs. There are smart individuals at AME, but the leadership culture drags everything down, and I would not recommend it to anyone looking for a professional or merit-based environment.