A minefield of red flags - Anonymous employee Zello Employee Review

This review is based on my personal experience, so you might want to take it with a grain of salt. I was hesitant to write one at all – because of the high-schooler gossip that goes on, I know it will be obvious who wrote this. However, I can’t stay silent about just how objectively poorly I was treated by this company. They will tell you that people who are “self-starters and highly motivated” will excel at this company. I came in not long after graduating and I have the exact temperament to match what they were looking for. For over a year of working at Zello, I was a superstar. I was consistently praised across all levels of leadership, and I gained a reputation for being a dependable and knowledgeable colleague. People across departments wanted me on their projects. I felt valued and rewarded for my hard work. That all changed when the decision was made to downsize the customer-facing team from around 15-20 people to 5. They combined multiple roles into one without ANY attempt at transparency about what these roles would actually be doing – or increased compensation. I tried to roll with the punches, but I also repeatedly raised my concerns about the increased workload and lack of transparency leading to burnout. These concerns were never listened to, only invalidated and forgotten about. I stopped getting positive attention or praise, and the conversation about compensation was continually pushed back. Once a replacement had been found (in the form of a 22-year-old new grad who wouldn’t “complain”), I was “laid off” without any sort of real explanation. They also loved talking about bringing in “fresh talent” (people with no experience) who could be sculpted to do things “the Zello way”, which just sounds like corporate grooming to me, especially since my attempts to voice concerns and set boundaries within the workplace earned me the pink slip. Apparently, my manager had tried to advocate for me to transition into a new role instead of being let go, but it was shot down from the top. I know this because, again, the culture is very gossipy. I attribute this at least partially to the fact that negative feedback is only ever met with consequences to the employee raising their voice. There are way too many secret trash-talking groups for a company this size, but they exist because employees feel like it’s their only avenue to air their grievances without backlash. Don’t join this company unless: - You are ok with never setting boundaries in the workplace, or having them pushed against - You understand that while work-life balance is possible to achieve at Zello, it is frowned upon and seen as less important than doing your “part” to help the company succeed - You are ok with the fact that there is very little onboarding, no action plan to address this, and if you get it wrong then it’s on you - You are ok with a total lack of stability in terms of your responsibilities - new things will be added to your plate without any conversation around whether or not you can take them on - You are ok with joining a company where 85% of people in non-product or development roles are eventually let go instead of leaving on their own terms, even those who have the right disposition and make impactful contributions to the company - You are ok with being valued differently if you choose to work remotely as opposed to coming into the office - You are ok with constantly moving goalposts and increasing your OKR’s mid-quarter if you do actually manage to meet them