Positive co-workers, but low pay and job insecurity - Anonymous employee DEPT Employee Review

2.0
6 May 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Co-workers and immediate managers are easy to work, chill, and generally a good bunch of people. Very diverse

Cons

Pay is way below market value and raises are below the level of inflation, which means that your reward for being good at your job and gaining more experience is a cut in real earnings. Little security. They love six-month contracts so they avoid paying benefits and can get rid of people without having to pay severance. You can get good performance reviews and fit in well and be let go just because your contract is up. Upper management loves to brag about the groundbreaking and creative work the agency does. Yet, internally the message is that everyone who does that work is mediocre. A couple of months ago, they sent out an email saying that no one should get higher than "meets expectations" on their performance reviews. But if everyone who works here is average, at best, then who is making all these award-winning campaigns upper management is always bragging about? People are hired for junior and mid creative roles even though they have more experience and skill than the seniors and directors they report to. Promotions are also rare--I know of people in junior and midweight roles who clearly should have been promoted. They know more than people with titles three levels above them! The whole structure is weird.

Explore other reviews about DEPT

5.0
11 Dec 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Lots of individuals that make up many teams from design, copy, motion, production artists, and even full-time strategists.

Cons

I left right before a big merge, so I can't speak to how it is after the merge. This review may be outdated.

1.0
9 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The design team is very talented and kind.

Cons

Very boring agency to work at. They only claim the agency is not doing good, "we don't have money" so no raises, 1.2% merit increases this year. This doesn't even keep up with inflation rate. At this company you will just be a number on a spreadsheet, waiting to get laid off because they would rather use a million different AI than hire any entry level positions. They fail almost every pitch because the leadership is empty-headed, comes in and changes the entire concepts and decks. And they claim they are very transparent and B-corp but they discriminate against POC all the time and lie about your prospects at their company. It's really not worth your nerves to work for them.

2
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