Good Place For Grads, But Marred By Problematic Behaviour - Digital Marketing atom42 Employee Review

2.0
10 Sept 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- good place to get a start in digital marketing - fast-paced - good breathe of work (i.e. requires diverse skillsets) - good social balance (love going out!)

Cons

- despicably sexist office culture (the founder is constantly making sexist/inappropriate remarks) - this behaviour is then endorsed by top-down management These 2 points require the greatest detail in my view. In my time at the company, I heard so many inappropriate comments being made by the founder and managing director. What I found confusing was that those in authority would let such comments slide consistently, however, I recognise there is a clear power imbalance that allows for such behaviour to exist. Equally, the majority of the workforce is fresh grads, who unfortunately feel unable to challenge such behaviour. While the company has a very intimate feel to it, there simply isn't enough dialogue about the wider implication of this on young staff members, especially young women in the company. Quite frankly, it's gross and disgusting and worth calling out. - lack of diversity along ethnicity lines is also severely lacking

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atom42 Response
4y
Hello, It is Andy here. I’m the founder of atom42. Thank you for having the courage to raise this. I really appreciate the feedback, regardless of how difficult it might be to read. I’m very sorry to hear that you experienced such issues while working at atom42. We take statements like this very seriously and following your review, we’ve asked HR to check in with the whole team to understand if anyone else feels how you felt, to ensure we are creating an inclusive culture for all our employees. If you feel comfortable to do so we'd like to understand more about your experience while working here and would like to suggest that you to reach out to me directly or a member of the people team. Otherwise, I wish you the best with your future career. I am glad that, despite the issues, you found atom42 a good place to start your journey. Andy

Explore other reviews about atom42

5.0
5 Sept 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are plenty of fun, vibrant agencies in London, but atom offers something different - a family, combined with an extremely effective team. Andy's vision when he started Atom was to create an agency with minimal politics but maximum feedback, where people can express how they really felt and use that to make things better, where we "start with the end in mind" to make sure we're doing work which really makes sense/makes a difference, and where we genuinely care about each other and our environment. It's clear to see from the comments below that he has achieved this goal, and created an amazing place to work. Working at atom provides a huge amount of opportunities to work on well known clients, learn a broad range of digital marketing skills, develop yourself/soft skills and climb the career ladder, but by far the best thing about working at atom is the people. If something goes wrong, you're feeling down or something bad happens to you, atom will be there for you in whatever way you need.

Cons

Not a "con", but something to know - You are expected to work hard and learn fast. If you like a slower pace of life then atom may not be for you. Salaries can be at the lower end of what you see in other agencies, but there are a lot of other benefits which make up for this such as annual bonuses, up to 30 days holiday, £250 learning fund per year (to spend learning anything you like), flexible working, yoga classes, subsidised counselling, bike to work scheme, monthly company nights out/fun events, regular team lunches and nights out.

5.0
18 Jun 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

atom is a wonderful place to learn and grow; I vastly improved the skills needed to move forward in my career, but arguably more importantly, I improved myself as a person - atom encourages growth from all angles. I left atom because I left London, little to do with wanting to leave the job. Since I left (over 6 months ago), there is not a single person who I have not spoken to or seen again. atom is full of like minded people who I wouldn't refer to as anything less than my own family. There was never a day that went by I wasn't excited to go into work. One of my favourite things about atom was the perfect balance between work and play; something I strongly miss now I have moved on. atom was a perfect place to start my career and try to work up from the very bottom. The support from management was always a strong point, and the support from the rest of my fellow colleagues were what made my experience at atom memorable. atom want the best for people, and Andy, the bossman, was always the first to make sure happiness was cultivated, and if not, then he would do something about it.

Cons

The starting wage is/was a bit weak, and is not comparable to other agencies in London. If you're looking for a career driven by money money money, this is unlikely to be the place for you. Some struggles with structure and progression were always prominent in whispered conversations; there was a sense it was near impossible to move up the career ladder when you got to a certain position; a lucky few managed to break through.

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