Tucows Benefits FAQ

Pros

These reviews and rating should be read with a grain of salt. Tucows is not a 4-star place, trust me. Tucows is a very flexible place to work with very little micromanagement. For some it's great but if you need structure and guidance, you won't get it. It's a place for self starters, it's sink or swim. Health benefits are also great.

Cons

Most of the senior executive got to where they are because they stuck around long enough. Most of them do not have the skills to be good at what they do. Ting is the only part of the business that gets attention and money. If you are working on domains, you will be neglected. Technology is super outdated and there is no willingness to change. Office is super dark and depressing. CEO does not provide the leadership required. Tucows holds on to lots of people who are incompetent. It's frustrating.

Advice to Management

You have lost good people because you are unable to reward skills and competence. The story about having to stay long enough to earn a promotion is plain wrong. If you see someone who is competent and bright, a promotion is in order. You should also take a look at executives. Most of them are clueless and completely unqualified to do what they do.

Pros

It's a great company, probably one of the best in Toronto. It's certainly the best one I've worked at. I've been here a few years and have seen the company mature in many ways. There's lots of great things but the ones that I feel are the most important for me are the following: • great colleagues - very smart and ambitious people work here, and they actually enjoy what they do; if you're someone who puts in minimal effort you will not enjoy working here I guarantee it. • amazing learning opportunities - again, there's an education fund, in-house learning team, conferences and lots of resources available for professional growth. People are encouraged to take advantage of them and they are great! • solid benefits and perks - really good coverage, pretty decent provider, massage days, mindfulness training, you name it. • snacks and free food days - this one is a personal favourite. • flexible hours and work from home days - pretty self-explanatory • overall, genuinely nice people! If you're the kind of person who loves collaboration and openness you'll fit right in. If you're the type of person who would rather work alone and get annoyed when someone sneezes within earshot this place might not be for you. • really great work-life balance - I can't stress this enough, so many places encourage people to work themselves to death just to prove something, but this place is about finding that balance where you are productive but still have down-time to enjoy your life. This is important for so many reasons.

Cons

Honestly the only downside is the office space that feels dated and stuck in the 90's. In terms of facilities the company has outgrown the space, offices are in short supply for meetings or conferences. Also, I should note that Customer support has a fairly high turnover rate because most people don't treat it as a longterm career, so there's definitely a cultural shift there. But many people have transitioned from Customer support to other roles within the company and have been here for years, so it's a great starting point!

Pros

Time off almost 5 weeks between vacation and personal time.

Cons

Lower pay compared to other companies

Advice to Management

Listen to the guys on the ground. Sometimes the dollar is not worth saving.

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

Free lunches, donuts and full benefits

Cons

Inexperienced and ineffectual management Unfair salary practices Zero chance of advancement Elliot Noss is an arrogant, narcissistic, piece of work who has a small cult that kisses his rump. Ross Nader is a sniveling coward who hides behind his mistakes. These two need to be avoided at all costs!

Advice to Management

Just admit that all decisions are made at the top and you are just wasting time dealing with employees one on one.