The Truth - General Virtual Assistant Area Ten Employee Review

1.0
Mar 29, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

In my experience at Area Ten, there were a few good things and a lot of challenges. On the positive side, I had the chance to learn new things on my own because the company didn't have a formal training program. At the beginning, the management seemed friendly and supportive.

Cons

However, there were many downsides. The company showed signs of problems early on, making the work environment uncomfortable. The workload became tough, and there wasn't much guidance or training available. It wasn't a problem at all since I took it as a challenge and a skill to gain. As time went on, the management changed, becoming manipulative and not treating employees fairly. The worst part was when they suddenly let us go without notice, and didn't pay us for three weeks of work. Trying to talk to them about these issue was also hard as they immediately blocked us in all their communication channels when they laid us off without notice.

Explore other reviews about Area Ten

1.0
May 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

None that I experienced at my time here.

Cons

Area Ten was by far the worst onboarding and professional experience I have ever had, and easily one of the more toxic management environments I've encountered in my career. No structured onboarding. No documentation. No introductions for the first 2-3 business days, capacity and workload cited as reasons. No internal meetings with other staff, no run downs on delivery and barely any SOPs. Onboarding materials featured a staff member no longer at the company. Surely this is something you would update? The organisational chart was out of date or incorrect. Daily 1:1s were frequently rescheduled within the meeting slot itself or started late with no courtesy message. Basic professional respect costs nothing. These meetings also lacked any real substance and were clearly not prepared for. I sent daily updates throughout my time there. I received barely any feedback and no action points in return. If you're going to require daily reporting from a new hire, the bare minimum is acknowledging it. Given the size of the team, there is no excuse for this level of disengagement from someone in a management position. Client briefs were often a single sentence. No context, no deadline, no guidance on delivery. Only after time had passed would I be told the work was overdue, that it shouldn't take longer than 2 hours, or that "clearly there was a miscommunication." None of this was communicated upfront. You cannot hold someone accountable to a standard you never set. I was asked to produce client-facing work before being briefed on the client, product and delivery. Some of the feedback when creating these documents was "run it through AI." They had little to no governance of how AI was used in the business. When I had questions regarding clients the answer was to ask someone else. That person was also a new hire. This is now the second person to leave in under two months. A fundamental flaw in how they hire and onboard. I'd be embarrassed if this reflected my business. The client services lead openly described themselves as a non people person, which unfortunately was reflected in the day to day management experience.

1.0
Mar 25, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are none There are none

Cons

In my 15-year career, this was the worst experience I’ve had in a workplace Lack of proper onboarding and training Trainer was often unavailable and openly said they “didn’t have the bandwidth” Concerning work environment — trainer mentioned going home and crying due to pressure Little to no visibility or clarity around the product or work being delivered Questions were dismissed rather than answered (“don’t worry about it”) Minimal to no support from the wider team or organisation Role and package did not match what was communicated during the hiring process

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