Pluspunten
– Remote-first work setup (1 day/week in office policy pre-layoffs) – Internal trainings and external courses (many not very useful but some are. But team workload seldom allows) – Transparent financial reports – A few strong and motivated colleagues – Decent hardware: company-provided laptops and smartphones were high-quality, and standard software setup was solid — no penny-pinching on tools
Minpunten
The most humiliating experience in all my life. Some people in the company lacked even the basic qualifications to perform their daily responsibilities, yet were shielded by managers who either didn’t care or didn’t know better. These individuals built their image through polished presentations, buzzwords, and repeating outputs from AI tools or low-effort tutorials. Reports were fabricated, deliverables staged, and sick leaves often timed to coincide with audits or accountability reviews — and nobody checked. It felt like being surrounded by people role-playing as professionals in a structure that rewarded noise over substance. Recruitment decisions made this worse: many teams were filled with part-time contractors, working students, or low-cost hires with no real vetting. The priority seemed to be cost savings, not quality or cohesion. During the layoffs, editors, tech and marketing specialists were let go, only for similar positions to be reopened months later. Same functions, possibly the same projects, just cheaper. It was hard to see this as anything other than cynical. Salaries were already below market, and in many cases absurdly low for the level of responsibility. Raises were frozen for years. Student rates were only raised after months of failed hiring attempts and pushback from mid-level managers. People were deliberately kept in lower roles and bands far longer than necessary. Officially the company claimed to support flexibility and families — but that vanished under pressure. Now people stay out of fear, not loyalty. Anyone with market options eventually walked away — those who stayed were left carrying a broken system. Top management quietly exited as soon as financial troubles started. Their replacements avoided all communication until layoffs were announced. Middle management ignored ongoing problems for months often due to a complete lack of technical understanding. They managed people whose work they couldn’t evaluate, and they didn’t try. The company pushed the rhetoric of an “innovative startup culture” — encouraging employees to drive change and take ownership — but never provided the time, support, or decision-making authority to make it real. The same applied to ESG and the “family-owned, family-friendly” image: just buzzwords with no substance.