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      AST Language Services

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      AST Language Services Reviews

      2.3

      22% would recommend to a friend

      (5 total reviews)

      28% positive business outlook

      Reviews by job title

      5 reviews
      2.0
      Feb 24, 2022

      Massive staff turnaround, horrible office, lack of benefits

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      The people at AST are amazing. There are some of the sharpest, most clever people you'll have the fortune to work with.

      Cons

      Communication is a massive issue. The building where the company is situated is horrible, and I'm not sure why anyone would want to work there. It's cold and has sex workers hanging about outside; it's an awful place. Progression can be challenging. Those capable are often not allowed to progress in their job by pointless arguing and difficulties from the Managing Director. The pay is quite frankly a joke. The entry requirements for basically any job here is graduate level. However, the salary wasn't even graduate level for most people even in the year 2000. There's a massive staff turnaround, don't expect to know your colleagues for long.The handling of working from home during the pandemic was appalling. The lack of care for staff and their health should be a huge factor when working here. The Managing Director's refusal to even watch the news during the pandemic and putting his loneliness before staff health is unforgivable. Forcing people to come in before understanding the situation at hand could have caused a massive issue.

      avatar
      AST Language Services Response
      2y
      I will address this review point by point: 1. We moved office premises a couple of weeks ago (July 2023). The company's previous premises, where we had been based for over 20 years, met our needs on various levels, including competitive rent, plenty of space and accessibility for key colleagues 2. Pay - our salaries have always been within translation industry and regional ranges. Job progression and taking on more responsibility are rewarded commensurately 3. Staff turnaround - there were a number of staff changes at the time of this review, but overall over the last 10-15 years our staff turnaround has been well below the average for companies of this size 4. Pandemic - this was an extremely difficult and challenging time for employees and employers alike. As an employer I had to strike the right balance between responding to the needs of the business and consideration of colleagues' welfare. Depending on your point of view I accept some may have felt I did not always get this balance right. But then the same applies to many other employers, including those running very large organisations, and to the majority of senior politicians. Andrew Schlich, Managing Director
      1.0
      Apr 26, 2024

      Awful

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      The amazing people at AST. The people at AST are truly wonderful. Just bright, wonderful, clever and all together well rounded people. All of them.

      Cons

      It seems that one of my colleagues who is either the Managing Director or close to him has put down what I can only describe as a boot licking level of review that is not at all close to the experience here. Obviously the two other negative reviews have nothing to do with this. I have also decided to add a review to make is abundantly clear, this is a sinking ship and is a horrible employer. Thanks to the fake review to make AST look good, they are now going to suffer from the Streisand effect. Let’s make a few things clear:

 1. Sacrificing your salary to park is not a perk 2. The WPA scheme provides barely ANYTHING. It’s the lowest level of their offerings. You would be selling your soul to work here with 75% reimbursement up to £65 for dental care. Hardly a massive perk. Almost all other graduate level employers offer WAY above this. 3. Hybrid working? Some employees are not even allowed to work remotely. The others work ONE day at home. AST has taken away sick pay since that first person’s review. Yes, that’s right. An employer that expects you to have a degree has in 2024 taken away ALL sick pay. Can’t work for one day? THOUGH. Struggle. What about annual leave, must be great surely? Nope. Most bank holidays are actually working days now. It’s below any graduate offering in the UK. 
 AST currently has over half of its employees on redundancy or reduced hours. with no consultation with staff and also illegally managed. AST is a company waiting to die either by terrible management or all the tribunals it’ll be dealing with over the next year. Speaking of legalities, here’s a few acts that AST has fallen short of over the years: The Equality Act 2010 Employment Rights Act 1996 Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999 CPD? There is none. I have seen staff on the same salary for almost 10 years who were given nothing. No career progression. What Andrew really means by “CPD” is he will get staff to do arbitrary tasks that they are not being paid for. Finally, if you are a supplier to AST you ought to hear how the Director talks about you. If it not been for the amazing jobs of the PMs, vendor manager and accounts who actually know how to talk to and about humans you wouldn’t want to deal with AST. If you knew how this business truly operated you wouldn’t even think twice about either working here or using their services. For anyone else still left, you all deserve better.

      avatar
      AST Language Services Response
      1y
      I’ve reported this reviewer to GD. The comment at the end ('You’re too far gone') is disparaging and unprofessional. Furthermore the review body contains numerous false and misleading statements, as listed below: Re. salary sacrifice for car parking not a perk: MISLEADING - the perk is that we have a private arrangement for employees to park their cars in a car park right next to our building. Employees have to pay for this themselves because it is our company policy not to unfairly encourage car use compared with other travel-to-work modes, for example public transport. 'Some employees are not even allowed to work remotely. The others work ONE day at home'. Both FALSE – since Covid we have operated hybrid working with 3 days WFO, 2 days WFH 'AST has taken away sick pay since that first person’s review'. MISLEADING - What the reviewer fails to mention is that annual holiday entitlement was increased by 1 day to compensate for a 1 day reduction in paid sick-leave. 'Most bank holidays are actually working days now' FALSE - Bank Holiday working is sometimes requested on a rota basis to support our clients in Europe. Payment in lieu is made at 125% for Bank Holiday working. 'AST currently has over half of its employees on redundancy or reduced hours with no consultation with staff'. FALSE – there was a recent temporary period of reduced hours working. Staff consultations were carried out extensively and the process was managed in line with statutory guidance from our professional HR advisers. These measures have now been lifted. Andrew Schlich, Managing Director
      1.0
      Apr 15, 2024

      Avoid if you can

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      Work experience related to your degree

      Cons

      Bullying culture set at the top and reinforced by team leads and line managers

      avatar
      AST Language Services Response
      1y
      I've reported the author of this to GD as a spam reviewer. 'Bullying culture' is an emotive phrase and it's unprofessional to make this very serious allegation without presenting any evidence. There's an 'Advice to Management' section for this in the form, but the reviewer hasn't had the courtesy to use it. Andrew Schlich, Managing Director
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