Artists please read me - 3D Artist Star Publishing Employee Review

Disclaimer: Glassdoor only allows 1 star as the lowest rating that you can give. Most of the negative reviews here are true, they pertain mostly to the editorial, financial and family side of the business. I will not repeat what you have already read, but instead will be focusing on the production side (Illustrators, Graphic Designers and 3D Artists) and it's management. General Issues Office uses old school punch card system (You are not allowed to buy breakfast after punching in) Company hires mostly foreigners as it is cheaper. Turnover rate is very high (1 person every 1 - 2 months) Deadlines are not fixed. If MOE asks for something last minute, you have to give it to them. Micromanagement - Everyone has to fill up a timesheet daily, about what you have done, how long did each task take. There is also a weekly timesheet, which requires you fill up your completed or ongoing tasks. Management Issues Assistant manager is newly appointed, but doing his best to keep things together. Will take time out of his schedule to listen to issues you are facing, and will try to resolve them. Keeps to his word unlike upper management. No proper deadlines for most projects. "If you ask me for a deadline I will tell you I want it yesterday." Upper management does not really care / they are very forgetful. I raised up several issues concerning the lack of portfolio take-away, the lack of teamwork, and how working on 3D using a mac is slow. PC was acquired after I voiced out the same issues a second time, rest of the issues were not fixed. Statements made by the management are things that they know you want to hear, however no action is taken, or the statement itself is not true. "I don't care about whether you have a degree or not, what matters is your artwork." "This company does not scrimp on salary." As just a poly grad, my salary was lesser as compared to my Uni grad counterpart in the office, even though I had more work experience, and the quality of my work and efficiency is better. 3D Art Department The company does not have Maya or 3DS Max, Blender is the software used here and you will have to learn how to use it on your own. Worked using a Mac for 6 months, finally got PCs after I voiced out this issue twice. No teamwork, everyone does their own thing and nobody knows what are all the 3D projects in progress, nobody knows what the others are doing. Communication within the team is bad, doing work that has already been completed by someone else has happened before. Portfolio take-away as a 3D artist here is very little. The senior artist is modelling most of the characters, as a new 3D artist, you will be mostly downloading stock assets and doing scene composition. The company functions similar to a design agency, speed is priority, quality of the work only needs to be slightly above average. Counter offer after my resignation: "I cannot accept your resignation, I want to try to make it work. If I give you the power to lead the team, and you manage to fix all the mentioned problems within a month, I will increase your salary 3 months later" Rejecting a resignation is illegal. The manager handed me back my resignation letter which I did not take back. Asked me to take up a lead position with no immediate pay increment. Impossible to fix deep rooted problems within a month. No guarantee that I would still have my job after fixing said issues. After I stated how his counter offer was unfair to me and rejected his offer, the manager told me he would reconsider his offer and get back to me. The manager did not get back to me, and instead held a meeting with the whole 3D artist team. The manager repeated all the issues I mentioned to him, and stated that from that point onwards, the senior artist would take the role of art lead. No other counter offer was presented after this. Summary If you are okay with no career progression, a very slow growing portfolio, low wages, and like to come to work to switch off your brain, this company might be a suitable choice. If you are an aspiring artist wanting to build up your career and portfolio, this is not the place for you.