Pros
The time before Bic got more involved in running Rocketbook was the best experience I've had working at an employer thus far in my career. No job or company is ever going to be perfect. That being said, Rocketbook had three main aspects that made it a company worth working for: 1. Incredible coworkers–RB has a knack for finding and hiring the best of the best. I worked with intelligent, compassionate, and hard-working people with a team mentality. My managers were incredibly respectful in addition to being extremely skilled at what they do, and I learned a lot from them. 2. Treated like an adult human being–I never felt like I was micromanaged. I worked remotely and was trusted to get my work done. I could take a few hours off to go to an appointment or take care of an emergency without having to mark it down as PTO due to the unlimited PTO policy (a policy that my manager genuinely encouraged me to take advantage of). I was immensely grateful for these perks and it made me feel so much more relaxed and able to do my job without worrying about not having enough PTO left to see my family over the holidays. 3. A meaningful mission–because the 2 original cofounders of Rocketbook actively led the company and worked with their employees closely, I felt there was a strong passion for RB's mission to reduce single-use paper and to make reusable notebooks the norm.
Cons
Unfortunately, it looks like Bic is going to turn Rocketbook into just another stressful corporate environment run by a skeleton crew with as little budget as possible. I really hope I'm wrong. • False Promises --> Layoffs After new leadership was implanted into the organization by parent company Bic in late 2022, it was promised that what made Rocketbook special would never go away–including its focus on employee events and community as well as investment in and focus on Rocketbook's unique brand voice. Famous last words. –Layoffs ensued in early January 2023, and what was left of Rocketbook's already small content team (the heart and soul of the brand voice and online presence of RB) was laid off, in addition to multiple layoffs in almost all other departments. –Budgets were slashed (not as many events/gatherings/prof. development for employees). –The original cofounders of RB had to majorly step back. (I don't know the details of this, but they are stepping back and will not be involved nearly as much as they were before.) They are the heart and soul of Rocketbook. –Trust = majorly diminished. • Weak DEI Investment Like many companies, there were times when even RB felt like a boys club. More importantly, there were very few non-white employees and very few queer employees. This was an issue that many employees were concerned about. I never saw any true addressing of this, and there was never any significant investment in a plan to increase diversity. To anyone looking at Glassdoor to vet RB as a prospective employer, please feel free to take this review with a grain of salt (as you should with most Glassdoor reviews), but I did my best to include a balance of positive and negative. This is what I experienced, and I know I am not the only one. I have had conversations with multiple RB employees (both former and current) who fear the same thing I fear–that Rocketbook has lost the innovative spark, collaborative team mentality, and respect for employees that it once had. I feel lucky that I was able to be a part of it before, and will forever be grateful for that experience and opportunity.