A toxic workplace run where bullying runs rife - Anonymous employee PinkNews Employee Review

You may have heard bad things about working conditions at PinkNews - whether through negative Glassdoor reviews or media professionals who have worked with the company. Sadly, everything you've heard is true. PinkNews is a truly appalling workplace to be part of, there is no other way to put it. Staff are belittled, bullied and harassed by the CEO, employees are reduced to tears on company-wide Zoom meetings by his approach and communication. When junior staff show signs of distress on company calls, there are no check-ups from senior management or HR and no concern for staff wellbeing. There is little to no mental health support inside the company, other than to direct exhausted, miserable staff to an online counselling service, which sees endless numbers of PinkNews staff on a daily basis. And to be clear, you will need to seek mental health support if you work for PinkNews for any extended period of time. Staff speak openly about how working for the company has seriously damanged their wellbeing. It's not just a lack of mental health support - there is also no support on a day to day level for people to simply get their work done. When team leaders are made redundant, and disappear from their roles without notice, their direct reports are expected to absorb their work, and loss of support, without additional pay, title change or even basic recognition. When this is questioned, the response is simply "you should have been doing that anyway", or "you shouldn't have needed that support". The company likes to talk about pay transparency, which has resulted in nothing more than staff realising that they are being underpaid than colleagues in the same role, and when this is raised on company-wide meetings, the CEO will tell staff that if they don't like their salary, they can look elsewhere as they are easily replaceable. The CEO is also known to have commented on the bodies of female staff at company events, once telling three members of staff they reminded him of the cast of Call The Midwife: "You're the big one, you're the posh one, and you're the funny little friend". He has also stated, in meetings with senior management, that trans rights are "too controversial" for the company to throw its weight behind. He made a young female employee cry on a Zoom call when she pushed back on misogynist content she was being asked to cover, explaining to her what is, and what isn't misogyny. He left another in tears while explaining why staff should be covering the activity of a dangerously unwell social media figure with a severe eating disorder. Other senior management do little more than implement the will and whims of the CEO to hold onto their enormous salaries, and will implement the CEO's snap decisions about strategy and redundancies, all of which are made at the drop of a hat. PinkNews likes to tell readers, viewers and advertisers that its purpose is to 'inform, inspire and empower' - but this simply isn't true. While some of its PinkNews-branded content on Snapchat is worthwhile and responsible (and created by people who truly care), at its heart, PinkNews is a video content farm. It churns out Snapchat video content scrutinising women's bodies, promoting influencers with eating disorders and ripping-off content from celebrities for its numerous Snapchat channels – which are not PinkNews branded - to avoid discouraging advertisers from spending money on campaigns that will sit alongside this offensive content. The company does not serve the LGBTQ+ community in any way, and its only lasting effect is to do damage to the committed and talented queer people who join the organisation There is no redundancy process, other than some formalities, and staff made 'at risk' of redundancy will simply disappear from work and never be seen again, leaving teams in turmoil. Staff are informed of their redundancy while on sick-leave or holiday, often finding out through colleagues, who are informed before the person losing their job. Internal teams are pitted against each other, causing friction between colleagues, as one team can be frequently blamed for the failings of another, and different information is given to different people, resulting in a working environment of fear, mistrust and hostility among staff - when the real problem in the company are the people at the top. The only strategy PinkNews has to improve morale is to throw lavish parties, where Drag Race contestants and singers from West End musicals will perform, all while telling staff there is no money to bring their salaries in line with colleagues. And the chances are, half the people you speak to at these events, you'll never see again because they will simply vanish from the company. The saddest part of all of this, is that PinkNews still has the opportunity to be a truly important publisher and content creation service, and still attracts brilliant people, who are misled during the recruitment process into the company's vision and goals. There is no long-term investment in the business, as the CEO simply chases small, short-term financial goals, which is usually no more than demanding staff double their output - with no further strategy than that. Avoid working for PinkNews at all costs if you value your career and mental health.