Pros
FUEL, as a business, proposes a lot of ideas and values to present themselves as a progressive company that has achieved a level of business-employee relations that are transcendent of typical workplace qualms.
A lot of reviews on here from current employee’s reiterate this. They have a cool office space, you'll get to network a good bit, they offer bi-annual profit sharing, they hold regular events for staff, company culture is regularly in conversation, they have a ping-pong table, etc etc. It has a lot of the same benefits as other ‘modern workplaces’. That in turn does attract good talent, so you will find that there is a wide swath of real expertise amongst those here under FUEL’s employ.
If your fine just settling back and coasting for a bit, and able to get a position where all the 'quirks' don't directly impact you, this ain't a bad spot.
Cons
Unfortunately, I believe FUEL, as a business, fails it’s employee’s by not upholding themselves to the same standards that they expect from those who work for them, and have created a culture that they know to be systemically toxic. Working as the Video Producer for FUEL, I had a unique perspective of the company and it’s inner workings, so here are my observations of FUEL’s culture and I’ll let you come to your own conclusions:
1. FUEL has a culture of stagnation, and they leverage their ‘culture’ to maintain a status-quo amongst their staff. There’s a lot of people who have been here for a really long time and have gotten used to a... certain way of doing things, if you know what i mean. It’s these people’s egos who are getting in the way of anything actually meaningful or productive happening. Any idea or change will only be seen as a threat if not their own. (As other reviews have stated here) Some positions within the company are designed to give you a slim chance of career growth.
Avoid any roles within Account or Regional Management.
2. FUEL has a culture of disorganization. As a working creative, the organizational pipeline of how projects and content get to me is pivotal to me doing my job. Every moving piece is intrinsically tied to the other, and if there’s not a formal process or at least an open dialog being had, things are going to be inconsistent. FUEL is willing to maintain a completely fractured marketing department (for awkward reasons that are pretty widely known about) instead of, as a business, finding a resolution amongst it's management that would maintain the quality and integrity of their marketing endeavors for their members or themselves.
3. FUEL knowingly has a culture of toxicity. Just to clarify, the innate culture amongst FUEL’s staff you’d typically engage with is warm and friendly - It’s within the management that things have been left unchecked for far too long. Behind closed doors, (and you better believe it) sometimes even on camera, you’ll hear how they talk about coworkers and everyone else around them, even going as far to use racial slurs and derogatory language. It’s awkward, it makes you look bad and other people feel uncomfortable, and it put’s your employee’s in a spot where they feel they need to ascribe to things they otherwise wouldn’t.
4. FUEL has a culture of Alcoholism, and I feel that anyone who deals with that issue personally looking to work here should know that. Most - if not every function will have an open bar. There's a kegger in the break room. Sometimes events get out of hand, as a result there is awkward altercations or even fights. I’m pretty sure some guy broke his leg at the last christmas party. I heard a story that the owners found someone passed out in the back alley once. They’ve gotten in trouble at venue’s because of it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about tipping back a cold one every once and a while (on the clock? even better) but, as a business, ignoring how much could be avoided by simply dialing it back by like 20% seems negligent to me.
