Good people to work with, bad client and questionable management - Language Specialist Innodata Employee Review

3.0
Dec 16, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Everyone I've worked with who works for Innodata is, with very few exceptions, lovely. There's a real culture encouraging asking questions and asking for help. Since the work is remote, there's also a lot of freedom to do what you want while you work like listening to music, etc. Getting hired was relatively simple, although it took them a while to get back to me.

Cons

-You don't get to choose what project you're working on. I got hired for language work only to find out they had hired too many people in that project and I was going to be doing something completely different. Pretty disappointing. -Absolutely ridiculous metrics demanding you work 8 hours exactly and punishing you if you don't. -The tools the client provides break frequently and you lose production time you're expected to make up elsewhere. -The client in general has vague demands that change constantly and without warning. Even my managers and team leads have insinuated in so many words that they find it disrespectful and unprofessional, despite the fact that they're clearly not allowed to be more critical than that.

Explore other reviews about Innodata

5.0
Feb 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great place to work with consistent communication.

Cons

Days can get repetitive and dry

2.0
Apr 12, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some flexibility Work from home

Cons

One thing I really didn’t enjoy about the guidance: our client sets a bench mark of having 85% “utilization”. Basically stating that of the 40 hours worked, 85% of that must be in “production code”, so about 35ish hours a week. The rest of the time can be spent reviewing emails, guidelines, etc. The project manager basically had management tell people that they could be 2.5 hours in other codes, and about 37.5 should be in production. If this is a decision from a client, then great, but it seemed to me the project manager was just trying to get every little bit of production possible out of people. I’m under the impression that if employees are treated like people and given proper breaks, the quality of work will be way better. If you force them to sit for 7.5 hours or a 8 hour day in front of a screen, the quality will be worse. The client says it’s 85% utilization, so why are we telling our employees they need to be in production for 37.5 hours out of the day? It just seems dishonest. Data annotation work can be tough and some of the tasks are repetitive and can take a lot of concentration. Half of the admin, forgets what it’s like to work in the queues, and drive these numbers blindly. Meanwhile, half of their job consists of chatting on teams all day.

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