Tucows Benefits FAQ

Pros

- lifestyle and health allowance - remote working - flexible working hours

Cons

- little to no progression - mundane tasks every day - don’t feel like a team

Advice to Management

Allow staff to train in different areas so skills are always being built, could allow for easy transition to different teams/ sectors of the company.

Pros

Best benefits ever: flexible HSA and an LSA

Cons

There's no standard of judgement metrics, and nobody tells you how you're doing so when the end-of-quarter purge comes, and you're let go, you aren't given a clear reason.

Advice to Management

Return to the "Golden Era" of early double-aughts TUCOWS, and forget the internal power struggles and blatant favouritism that leave hard the working people dizzy and wondering what just happened when you inevitably fire them. Mr Noss was a great guy, but the lack of communication between levels and departments is very discouraging, and makes it feel like the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

Pros

- If you're a developer, you'll get the latest hardware: high-end macbook pro, multiple monitors, all the dongles and hubs you could wish for - flexible work from home policy: as long as you get your work done, you can work from home one or two days a week (also a con, see below) - good emphasis on writing unit tests and a strong drive to bring legacy code up to date - good offering of snacks to fight the after-lunch food coma - decent RRSP program - bike storage area - wide sit-stand desks plus filing cabinet with lock for each employee - a growing focus on employee wellbeing (lifestyle and health spending account with League, good benefits, free massages)

Cons

- If you're NOT a CSR, Tech Support, or in HR / Talent Dev, you'll be sitting in a converted warehouse with poor lighting and no windows! If you need lots of natural light to thrive, better pass on a job here or you will be terminally depressed - Lifer-type employees who have been at the company for 10+ years have a "can't touch me" attitude and will despise new employees who disagree with their immutable notion of how things should be done - Will be hard to find support from your peers on some teams: collaboration seems to be discouraged and independent problem solving is favoured (I was criticized for seeking help in Slack within my first 3 months at the company) - Office is like a museum most of the time which can make it awkward to converse with peers - additionally, office is lacking in spaces for private conversations - There is no additional floor space to add new desks and there are not enough meeting rooms - WFH policy is too lax and seems to be abused which makes it more difficult to collaborate with peers (who has the time to fiddle with video calls for every single meeting?) - No formal career progression plan on some teams for certain roles - Onboarding lasted half a day and then I was thrust into my role with not a clue about how the other lines of business in the company work - Everyone at the company is getting older and having children: if you're looking for a younger, more dynamic crowd, continue with your search

Advice to Management

Place more of an emphasis on skills development and establish a more involved onboarding programme. Employees will do good work if you support them. If instead you treat them as replaceable resources, you'll see burnout and lack of commitment to the company. Finally, stop being cheap and expand the office already.

Pros

- If you're a developer, you'll get the latest hardware: high-end macbook pro, multiple monitors, all the dongles and hubs you could wish for - flexible work from home policy: as long as you get your work done, you can work from home one or two days a week (also a con, see below) - good emphasis on writing unit tests and a strong drive to bring legacy code up to date - good offering of snacks to fight the after-lunch food coma - decent RRSP program - bike storage area - wide sit-stand desks plus filing cabinet with lock for each employee - a growing focus on employee wellbeing (lifestyle and health spending account with League, good benefits, free massages)

Cons

- If you're NOT a CSR, Tech Support, or in HR / Talent Dev, you'll be sitting in a converted warehouse with poor lighting and no windows! If you need lots of natural light to thrive, better pass on a job here or you will be terminally depressed - Lifer-type employees who have been at the company for 10+ years have a "can't touch me" attitude and will despise new employees who disagree with their immutable notion of how things should be done - Will be hard to find support from your peers on some teams: collaboration seems to be discouraged and independent problem solving is favoured (I was criticized for seeking help in Slack within my first 3 months at the company) - Office is like a museum most of the time which can make it awkward to converse with peers - additionally, office is lacking in spaces for private conversations - There is no additional floor space to add new desks and there are not enough meeting rooms - WFH policy is too lax and seems to be abused which makes it more difficult to collaborate with peers (who has the time to fiddle with video calls for every single meeting?) - No formal career progression plan on some teams for certain roles - Onboarding lasted half a day and then I was thrust into my role with not a clue about how the other lines of business in the company work - Everyone at the company is getting older and having children: if you're looking for a younger, more dynamic crowd, continue with your search

Advice to Management

Place more of an emphasis on skills development and establish a more involved onboarding programme. Employees will do good work if you support them. If instead you treat them as replaceable resources, you'll see burnout and lack of commitment to the company. Finally, stop being cheap and expand the office already.