Work & Co Reviews

A huge amount of deep-rooted hubris from the senior leadership that runs deep into the culture of the company. A tolerance of [and sometimes attraction to] arrogance and egotistical behavior that fuels an environment of competition and humiliation. Sr. leaders - and particularly partners - do not miss a bit to humiliate you in front of others. The partners are some of the worst human beings to have ever walked the face of the earth. True wolves in sheep's clothing. They will pat you with one hand and stab you with the other. As long as they feel like they are "winning" or "being better than others", they are ok. They are the scum of the scum and unable to listen to critique or do any self-reflection. The company lacks direction and strategic clarity. It's a constant drive to be "the best" or "to win" and the only path to get there is looks - the thought goes that if it looks good, people will be fooled to pay for it. Clients buy into the farce and reinforce the feedback loop. It's a "no values and no principles" environment. Anything goes as long as it's making the partners rich. Companies that act like this usually end up in huge legal trouble at some point and this is definitely a risk for Work & Co. Lots of money but lots of jain time too. The technology department used to have inspiring leaders but they are leaving one by one. What once was a far-reaching, exploratory, learning, and risk-taking department is settling on very simple, repetitive and crappy projects that add very little to someone's career.

I never felt like a valued team member. Most employees here either come from referrals, Huge Inc., or from familiar walks of life. This culture reeks of nepotism, which in turn makes other employees feel isolated and like outsiders. Once you've been recognized as an outsider, you grow sensitive to the micro-aggressions and (c)overt othering. This company could really benefit from some education and self-reflection on what diversity, equity, and belonging really looks like. As per the work, it's not real product design. Agency work will always be driven by a client brief. Your objective is the client's objective. You complete the work, and move on to the next. You never truly get to own a product beyond a v1 or a redesign, which usually ends up being a coat of paint, at best. If you enjoy pitch work and flashy website redesigns — work here. If you want to grow as a product designer, drive product strategy, conduct research, develop insights, experiment, launch, and iterate — then go elsewhere. One of the founding partners once criticized one of my designs simply because it didn't align with his vision. This was plainly offensive and unhelpful. Never have I had to report to such arrogance and belittling. A video of a talk from the same partner surfaced years ago where he was taking questions from a Q&A, and one of the questions regarding a project in particular had asked if the team had done any research throughout the design process. His response was "…of course we did research; we're not amateurs." I'm so glad I don't work here anymore.