Vantaggi
I actually really liked working here a lot, and I think I would have continued working here for a long time if I hadn’t been laid off. Yes it has its problems but all companies do (see below), especially in media. My co-workers were some of my best friends, I got paid more than I would at the majority of other media companies (although I know salaries were all over the place), and there were always a ton of fun events for me to bond with my co-workers. It had the feeling of a start-up (I could wear shorts to the office and cry when I was having a bad day and if I messed up I didn’t feel like it was going to cost me my job) with the security of a big company (benefits and increasing number of perks). I felt personally close to this company despite a lot of its flaws. And Cheesegiving! Never again :(
Svantaggi
I don’t think the biggest con is so much with the company as with the direction it’s headed and where their shifting their priority. I understand what a “restructuring” is and how a new EIC might want to come in and bring her own people. But when you already have top talent available to you (and since this is anonymous, I can say without feeling like a braggart: I am top educated talent with a track record. I am far beyond any writer/editor they’ll be able to get in the future and I know that, I’m just not flashy about it) don’t kick them out the door. Use them! Even if you can’t use all of them, editorial staff aren’t one-trick ponies. Most of us are multi-faceted. Talk to us about how to use us, the people that want to be there, that loved BDG, that were loyal to the company. Someone doesn’t have to do only the job you initially hired them for. Why are you hiring at the other companies (Nylon, Mic, Input, Outline, even within Bustle, BDG’s other departments) when we could have done those jobs and done them well? It doesn’t make sense. Improve communication. Don’t be so quick to lay people off.