Pluspunten
Generally, employees are friendly, and outgoing and will support one another in moments of crisis (often). However, this isn’t reflective of the company itself, just that many friendly people are looking for English-speaking jobs in Berlin and Ireland.
Minpunten
It is worth noting that they will post new jobs under the 'Smartfrog' division of the company to avoid applicants coming across the negative reviews associated with the 'Canary' division. However, just to be clear, new applicants will be working primarily for Canary products and services. This is a deliberate attempt to blur lines between the two divisions and disguise the negative reviews attached to their 'Canary' brand. Smartfrog & Canary is a company that is close-minded, lacks transparency, and is averse to innovation. It’s difficult to pin the blame on one department or person, the problem is a lack of cohesion and communication. Upper management will blunder and buzzword their way through meetings to disguise the absence of a plan, leaving lowly Team Leads to maintain the illusion of competence. There are continual product and app failures that are brushed under the carpet, hidden from other affected departments, and even their customer-facing status website is deliberately not updated to cloak the extent of the issues. In 2021 a number of workers in the (unofficial) Berlin office attempted to set up a Work’s Council. In response there was a mass employee termination with up to 14 workers being deactivated from the system without prior warning; management had planted a mole among the unionising employees who provided them with screenshots of private conversations on external platforms such as Whatsapp and Signal. Many of those terminated employees were able to win their cases in court with substantial payouts. When N26 fought to stop the formation of a work’s council they received negative media coverage, the only reason Smartfrog & Canary managed to avoid such media scrutiny is that they’re not a household name in Germany. While officially based in New York and Dublin, they piggyback on the ‘Start-up’ label in Berlin while providing none of the energy, benefits and innovation usually associated with the term. As an employee, you’ll receive very little guidance, and have no room for progression unless you're friends with upper management. There will be lacklustre and ineffectual meetings with your team lead; your feedback will not be taken on board. There are no subsidised travel passes, no German lessons, no recognition of achievements. However, you will receive free fruit and, if employee satisfaction is particularly low that month, a surprise ‘oriental’ pizza party. Current employees reading this, regardless of where in the foggy Orwellian hierarchy you find yourself, you are dispensable. This company will get rid of you in a heartbeat if they have the chance, don’t assume that you’ll float while the ship is sinking. Additionally, it is worth noting that in the last seven months, there have been no attempts to replace departing employees and suspiciously non-existent stock of certain products, indicating production being halted. The quickest decision-making I’ve ever witnessed in my time at Smartfrog & Canary was the decision to outsource customer support and sales calls to India -- the legacy of an attempted Work’s Council being set up in an EU country.