From great motivation to complete disillusion – How a successful company is being driven to the ground
Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich
The only real positive is the colleagues: supportive, kind, and genuinely team-oriented. Without them, it would hardly be bearable. But even the strongest team spirit fades when the overall framework constantly drains motivation.
At least there’s unlimited muesli and non-dairy milk.
Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich
My drive to make a real impact has long been fading. The main reasons: lack of recognition through better pay, frustratingly old, inflexible and unreliable technical processes and poorly implemented merges. Suggestions are usually met with condescending smiles and rarely applied if they do not fit into the narrative from the main office in the UK. There is no coherent, streamlined structure and each department kind of works in its own vacuum. The outcome: chaotic merges with newly acquired companies and declining results. Instead of improving the existing poor technical process, shiny AI chimeras are chased and high financial targets are set. As soon as it looks like these targets won't be met, management blames the employees' commitment and forces a Full-time In-Office requirement onto them. As if pissing off three quarters of a company's manpower would do improve for its motivation....
The working environment at the Munich office only adds to the frustration: since the pandemic the office is a lot smaller and there are no assigned desks, so every morning there is rush to score the best spaces. With the upcoming 100% office mandate from mid November, the chaos will worsen – noisy open-plan office, not enough quiet spaces, and far too few meeting rooms will make focused work impossible. Communication around this change? Virtually non-existent. We received a message for the top management in the UK via Google Chat and open discussion on the topic has been labeled as undesired. No one knows what exactly is planned. The fact that many employees would quit after being stripped of the best benefit this company had to offer doesn’t seem to matter to leadership.
Verbesserungsvorschläge
Reduce overwork: constant expansion cannot come at the permanent expense of staff.
Take employees seriously: accept feedback and actually implement ideas.
Create clear structures: defined priorities, deadlines, and transparent processes.
Ensure fairness: fair remote working policies and transparent salary structures.
Rethink leadership: more respectful, open, and supportive behaviour is needed.
Arbeitsatmosphäre
Once creative and motivated, now drained and resigned. Lack of recognition, heavy workload, and unreliable technical processes have eroded morale. The only real anchor is the strong sense of camaraderie among colleagues.
Image
In the travel industry it is a known and respected brand. The company promotes itself as modern and inclusive, for example with the annual Pride parade float. To the general public in Germany though, the brand is virtually unknown
Work-Life-Balance
Was manageable thanks to flexible hours and remote working. But this will change drastically with the RTO mandate in November: long commutes, office noise, no quiet areas, and too few meeting rooms will make a healthy balance impossible.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
In salary negotiations, employees are often told they’ve already “reached their limit,” even when pay clearly lags behind responsibility and industry standards.
Gehalt/Benefits
Below industry average and highly non-transparent. Comparable roles are paid unequally, with no clear rationale.
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
Forcing daily commuting is anything but environmentally friendly, especially for a company that operates in an already eco-unfriendly market and can't even get separate rubbish bins working at the office.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
Remarkably strong despite worsening conditions – colleagues support one another.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
Seasoned colleagues are frienldy and always ready to help.
Vorgesetztenverhalten
From the main office in the UK: little support, poor feedback, and dismissive communication. Decisions appear arbitrary and rarely transparent. I give two stars just because the communication at the local Munich office is much better.
Arbeitsbedingungen
Open-plan office, too few desks and meeting rooms – hardly conducive to productivity. The remote working was good, but that option is being scrapped.
Kommunikation
General criticism is ignored or branded as disruptive. An open culture of discussion exists only within the single teams.
Gleichberechtigung
The official motto “be yourself” doesn’t match reality. Popularity and personal connections seem to count more than objective performance.
Interessante Aufgaben
Once diverse and challenging, now stifled by organisational bottlenecks. Processes are confusing, underlying systems outdated – innovation barely happens beyond shiny AI dreams, which cannot cover up the fact that the company lags at least 10 years behind the competition on the basics needed to operate in a highly competitive market.