Appsfactory 

GmbH

Reviews

What I like about the employer

the colleagues

What I dislike about the employer

when you get hired, you get the misleading feeling, that the HR-Department cares for you.
They don't.
Instead of mediating between the worker's requests and the company's interests, they only represent the company.

Suggestions for improvement

Working atmosphere

It feels weird to work for this company, since the management is blaming us for their bad middle-management, while reducing our (almost non-existent) "benefits" to a minimum and is not taking responsibility for their decisions.
Also there have been almost no raises this year, since the management wanted to acquire a new company.

The competent and friendly colleagues are the only reason, I haven't left yet.

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While transparency is not implemented, Middle-Management is investing a lot to show a good image to the outside:
- most kununu reviews feel payed
- final good bye messages to our af-general channel get reworked by management, if they don't like them
- new colleagues get cushioned to show them that everything works like a charm in this company

Work-Life Balance

pretty good, since the only requirements of the CXOs is that you are working on "billable" projects, which you have almost no control over.

But there is always time for more unhelpful meetings or plenty of coffee breaks.

Career/Professional development

There used to be a 2 hour time frame for every employee to learn about new technologies and just keep up-to-date with tech changes.

This time frame got sneakily omitted years ago.

Salary/Benefits

As already stated, raises are almost always declined. The best performing people got a 3-5% raise this year.
Long-term workers might get skipped or denied, depending on their origin.

Benefits are mostly just so Appsfactory can say "we have benefits", but these benefits are just here so we aren't eligible to receive bonuses.
Also the company parties got downsized a lot this year. Maybe next year we will have no company party at all.

Environmental and social responsibility

No measures were taken. The highest paying client gets accepted.
Moral doesn't play a big role here.

Collegiality

It feels more and more like this company has a "good" and a "bad" side of the force (like in star wars).
The colleagues motivate each other and listen carefully, but the if you communicate your concerns to the "dark side", you have to fear getting laid off immediately, without further notice or transparent explanation. This has happened multiple times now.

Interaction with older colleagues

Old people only get hired for management positions. Otherwise Appsfactory is always looking for cheap and young personell.
Confirmed by outsiders.

At least the get treated fairly.

Leadership behavior

Most direct superiors are competent, listen actively to your requests and take time to solve your problems with you, but you never know, what is being communicated behind your back.

Communication

The more or less regular all-hands meetings don't feel honest at all. Management is dodging questions, they don't feel comfortable answering.
Also the new middle-management employees, don't take the time to explain their requests or communicate their problems transparently.
Instead they say "please submit your forms better" without enough context on how to accomplish their wishes.

Equality

Appsfactory brags with it's diversity, but never tells you about how foreigners get treated here.
Foreigners get way less income and almost no raises.

Also every working contract has some clauses like "don't talk about your income", which is illegal to prohibit in Germany. Management knows this, which is why they added the clause "if any clause doesn't apply, you can't sue us".
This has the consequence that foreigners stick to rules, that aren't legitimate, while fearing that they might get terminated.

Interesting tasks

We haven't acquired a lot of new projects and we are only implementing "best practices", that we have already implemented.
Interesting tasks are only assigned to "high-performers".

What I like about the employer

You can act very freely and proactivity is appreciated. This creates space to develop and to get things done. The parties are amazing.

What I dislike about the employer

I am very happy at the moment.

Suggestions for improvement

Working atmosphere

Great energy, especially at the HQ in Leipzig.

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Very good so far, we've also had a lot of positive feedback from customers. Even when things don't go as planned, you always manage to make everyone happy.

Work-Life Balance

In an agency, you may have to survive a peak here and there, and sometimes things can get a bit busy, but overall you can work very flexibly.

Career/Professional development

My team has had several training sessions and, in my view, you can always get in touch with HR and make suggestions. Of course, you need to be proactive to a certain extent, but then there are many opportunities.

Salary/Benefits

Very appropriate. Sure, there are exceptions, but generally good. The current times are, of course, a challenge for everyone.

Environmental and social responsibility

I think more could be done, including participating in official reports, such as ESG.

Collegiality

Top.

Interaction with older colleagues

Overall, there are a lot of young people in the AF, but the veterans and older members are also treated with respect.

Leadership behavior

Good dialogue and you are also given the trust to drive things forward yourself.

Working conditions

You can get everything you need there.

Communication

Newsletters are offered in various areas, as are all-hands meetings. I feel informed.

Equality

It would be nice to see more women in leadership positions.

Interesting tasks

Exciting new challenges arise time and again, which is in the nature of things at an agency.

What I like about the employer

Lockere, moderne Umgangsform (Duzen) inklusive "Chefetage." Wirkt wertschätzend und man fühlt sich als wertvolles Mitglied und wird direkt eingebunden.
Die 3 Geschäftsführer sind alle nahbar und selbst noch aktiv ins Tagesgeschäft eingebunden. (evtl. Entlastung durch VP o.ä. nötig). Sie sind immer offen für einen Schwatz an der Kaffeemaschine oder ansprechbar bei Problemen. Und feiern Seite an Seite mit den Mitarbeitenden auf sämtlichen Partys. Das hab ich so tatsächlich noch nie erlebt.

What I dislike about the employer

Entstehende "Gläserne Wand" zwischen People&Culture (ehemals HR) und allen anderen.

Suggestions for improvement

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Nach außen Top. Die Kunden schätzen die Arbeit und Leistungen wirklich sehr und man gibt sich im Umgang mit ihnen echt sehr viel Mühe. Die PTLs versuchen immer alles möglich zu machen. Intern bekommt man eben auch die unschönen Sachen mit, daher ist es aktuell durchwachsen.

Environmental and social responsibility

Die Mülltrennung funktioniert mittelmäßig. Eine Biotonne wäre toll. Das liegt meines Wissens aber in den Händen des Gebäudemanagements.
Es werden (zB nach feiern/grillen etc.) unglaublich viele Lebensmittel weggeworfen - hier könnte man die MA ermutigen sich ggf etwas einzupacken oder am nächsten Tag zu verspeisen. Auch die Bestellvorgänge (Amazon) könnten optimiert werden ( zB 1x pro Woche, 2x im Monat)

Career/Professional development

Je nach Abteilung

Collegiality

Jeder der schonmal hier gearbeitet hat, vermisst am Ende des Tages die Kollegen! Hier arbeiten wirklich viele, tolle, unterschiedliche, innovative Menschen. #Appsfactorians

Working conditions

Moderne, zentrale Büros

Communication

Darf gerne transparenter werden

Equality

Leider zu wenig Frauen in leitenden Positionen (zum Zeitpunkt 4). Hier darf man gerne nachlegen.

What I like about the employer

- Trust they put in you with projects without micro managing
- Each office can adjust some rules according to their own needs
- The teams
- The variety of projects and clients and by that the amount you can learn :-)
- Summerparty and Christmasparty in general to bring everyone together :-)

What I dislike about the employer

1. Below-market high-level salaries

2. When internal surveys reveal negative feedback or unpopular opinions, you're treated as the enemy, rather than being met with an effort to understand and improve

3. The focus is entirely on numbers

4. Christmas parties are now scheduled 2 days before christmas, a time when most people are preparing to travel home. It feels like they’re more concerned about avoiding sick days during regular work hours knowing the compay is going to be closed after the christmas party anyway

5. No Christmas, vacation or end-of-year boni or at least a little creative personal surprise or even personalized speech that shows some appreciation for the work we are all doing during the year. Beanies with a huge AF Logo nobody is gonna wear – really?

Suggestions for improvement

Working atmosphere

Within the team it is totally fine, within the overall company it's unpleasant

Work-Life Balance

1. Employees have the flexibility to choose their working hours within the core hours of 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM, which is fair.

2.Transitioning from a home office culture back to an office-centric one is the most outdated and unfriendly news to employees, especially those who never signed up for this change. What about those with families, kids, or pets to care for? Or those who started new hobbies thanks to reduced commute times? Now, some employees even have to commute from other cities.

3. Officially, overtime isn't paid, and employees are required to work up to 16 hours per month without compensation—this isn't ideal. However, team leads usually handle this fairly, allowing most people to balance overtime within the same or following week.

4. Vacation planning has become restrictive, with employees now needing to schedule part of their time off by June and use 10 days before June or July. This limits flexibility for those who prefer taking holidays in the second half of the year, although individual arrangements might still be possible.

5. Workation is possible worldwide (nice!) but only once a year and up to 4 weeks – this could be a bit more flexible.

Salary/Benefits

1. The salary is too low for Seniors and Teamleads (under marketstandards) and the ranges are immensly wide.

2. There has been an instance where salaries were paid a few days late, even extending into the next month, such as over Christmas, due to someone forgetting to confirm the payments. This is unprofessional for a company of this size.

Environmental and social responsibility

If we don't get to fly we do it for the pricing not the environment. I would say AF is neutral in regards to social and environmental consciousness

Collegiality

Great Team, mostly really nice and appreciative people

Interaction with older colleagues

We are all pretty young :)

Leadership behavior

1. The leadership team is quite young, which often results in inexperience and a lack of strong psychological team management skills.

2. Depending on the individual and the level of pressure, leadership can range from being very fair to destructive and demotivating.

Working conditions

1. Whenever you need something reasonable (hardware to work better for example or office furniture) it is followed up quickly and with no complications.

2. The offices have terrasses and really aesthetically pleasing conference rooms.

3. Adjustable tables are standard, the good ergonomic chairs are only reserved for fixed desks

4. The offices themselves feel a bit dry and cold though.

Communication

1. Communication in official meetings from C-level to employees often feels awkward, unpleasant and restrictive. It sometimes comes across as if they don't trust us and begrudge us even small improvements. For instance, when they finally changed the sick leave policy to not require a doctor's note from day one, it was coupled with the comment, "We will monitor this over the next 6 to 12 months to see if the number of sick leaves around weekends increases, and if so, we'll revert to the old rule."

Another example is the new "back to office" policy, where we're required to book desks, accompanied by the statement, "Of course, we'll be checking to ensure you're actually in the office." Come on, really? Even if there are concerns, they don't need to be expressed this way, as it creates an atmosphere of mistrust and excessive control.

2. Good thing is the regular all hands meeting about company updates which has a slot for questions afterwards

3. The removal of team events and employee benefits like lunches during meetings or in other locations breakfast, combined with a lack of transparency about who gets to do what and when, creates a sense of randomness and inconsistency.

Interesting tasks

Depends on whos favor you are in and in which drawer you were put in

What I like about the employer

Colleagues, projects, modern tech and frameworks, good hardware and tools.

What I dislike about the employer

No real bonuses.
gym pass, dienstrad, free drinks, fruits and cereals.
Its ok to have gym pass (which not everyone wants to use) but its not possible to get support for Deutschlandticket. The argument is „not everyone will use it“. See the problem here…?
Only bonuses that are cheap, easy and don‘t cost any effort are maybe chosen…

The top management is only interested in making the most money. Social fairness, being a good company don’t matter at all, since it doesn't yield money.

Why do I still work for them: The colleagues and the projects - so far…

Suggestions for improvement

Working atmosphere

Depends heavily on your team. Some leads are very interested in you and your welfare. Others don‘t. The higher up go, the less they care.

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There is a huge machinery in the company to create a good outside view. Its mostly true but highly oversold… E.g. most positive kununu evaluations are from colleagues before their probation time ends. They are ask to write „an honest“ feedback.

Work-Life Balance

Non-existent. They will tell you its there, but in reality its not. You are now forced to come to the office 2 days a week - „because the office was so expensive…“ - without having actual flexibility.
The most flexibility you get is talking to your project lead and agree on thing „under the table“.

Career/Professional development

The middle management and tech leads are really interested in providing trainings, but HR is unable to provide a successful process for over 5 years now.
The yearly addition is a training contract for trainings with higher costs which bind you some time to the company or you have to pay back a percentage…

Salary/Benefits

Under the average. If you can negotiate well you have good chances for an over average salary. But keep in mind that there is no actual salary negotiation. Tell HR what you want, if you crossed a line they bring it to the top management. You will get feedback via email about what you get… Welcome in 2024.

Environmental and social responsibility

They care for the environment, but less for social fairness.

Collegiality

Colleagues work very well together. Everyone tries their best and helps each other.

Interaction with older colleagues

Saw no bad examples, seems
good.

Leadership behavior

Some yes some no. Depends on who is leading you. Speaking about the top management and what they care about: money, money, money.

Working conditions

The offices are modern. You get good laptops and can chose between a Windows or MacBook. You are now even allowed to use certain Linux distros if you like.
Meeting room equipment is bad. The microphone quality is just the worst - in every office…

Communication

There monthly/bi-monthly update meetings from the management and certain departments. How does the company do, whats news, changes - its on zoom. Everyone can (non-anonymous) ask questions afterwards in the chat. You have no chance to really discuss things.
The top managements often uses this to defend their points with arguments you can‘t react on in this kind of setup.

Equality

No chance for women to climb the ladder. In stereotypical positions like HR (only women) or Design, you find women.
This is exemplified by the top management and handed down the pipeline…
Worst part is that there is no interest in fostering diversity at any level. Efforts are just ignored.

Interesting tasks

Cool and fun projects. You habe a lot
of freedom to shape the projects and contribute. There are some legacy projects here and there, but you get over them and the next exciting project will come.

What I like about the employer

This flexi home office is a joke and forcing people to come to office is not really productive.

What I dislike about the employer

They really do not care about employees and only do events to get publicity. And new people and culture team is even bigger joke. Never reply to you and you need to chase them for any education and talk about cost for months.

Suggestions for improvement

What I like about the employer

Teamzusammenhalt, zT spannende Aufgaben, die Teamleads geben wirklich alles für ihre Teams.

What I dislike about the employer

Verpflichtungen durchdrücken die den Mitarbeitern das Gefühl geben, dass ihnen nicht vertraut wird & viele Mitarbeiter bekommen jetzt Probleme durch Officeverpflichtungen. Man hat ursprünglich hier angefangen, da es eine flexible Office/Homeofficeregelung gibt und muss nun seinen Alltag komplett unstrukturieren und auf eigene Kosten zT langen Fahrtweg auf sich nehmen. Viele Mitarbeiter sind aktuell unzufrieden und fühlen sich nicht gehört, obwohl es über gefeedbackt wird und über Teamleads nach oben getragen wird.

Suggestions for improvement

What I like about the employer

Moderne Büros

What I dislike about the employer

Führungsverhalten, Weiterbildung, Bezahlung

Suggestions for improvement

What I like about the employer

Coole Kunden / Projekten

What I dislike about the employer

Kommunikation und Gehalt

Suggestions for improvement

Working atmosphere

Das Arbeitsklima in einem kleinen Team ist sehr gut. Insgesamt im Unternehmen würde ich die Atmosphäre mit 2 bewerten. Man merkt, dass versucht wird, nur positive Momente hervorzuheben, was sehr künstlich wirkt. Es wird immer betont wie viele neue Mitarbeiter jeden Monat anfangen, aber wenn man hört wie viele auch kündigen und warum...

Work-Life Balance

40 Stunden der Woche, keine Überstunden

Environmental and social responsibility

Leider gibt es nicht einmal genügend Mülleimer, um den Müll sauber zu trennen.

Career/Professional development

Es gibt schon die Möglichkeit, sich weiterzubilden, aber man muss wirklich kämpfen, um eine Weiterbildung zu bekommen.

Communication

Auch hier würde ich die Kommunikation innerhalb des Teams als gut bewerten, aber zwischen den Abteilungen funktioniert sie nicht so gut.
Insbesondere die Arbeit von HR ist sehr unstrukturiert, die Aufgaben der Abteilung unklar.

Salary/Benefits

Auch auf kununu kann man sehen, dass das Gehalt eher niedrig ist. Und man kann auch nicht mit einer guten Gehaltserhöhung rechnen.

Suggestions for improvement