Vantaggi
Had the opportunity to work on a lot of diverse project, amazing vegan environment, learned so much more about animal rights and met a few good work colleagues.
Svantaggi
I want to begin by expressing my support for PETA's mission, but I must highlight some significant concerns about the work environment. During the initial three months at PETA, the workload was manageable, as it was part of the training period. However, once that period ended, the workload increased significantly. I dreaded coming into work each morning and to make matters worst, each month, we were on-call for at least a week, which was incredibly draining. In my experience, and as confirmed by conversations with many of my colleagues, we felt that we were underutilized, overqualified, and underpaid. PETA claims that salaries are location-based, but I've seen people earning between $31,000 to $33,000 annually, even in high-cost areas like California. My department primarily consists of young women who are starting their careers, and it feels like PETA takes advantage of this fact. Women are statistically less likely to speak up about mistreatment and low pay, and it seems PETA benefits from this. I believe PETA should undergo an audit, as numerous colleagues, both before and after my departure this year, shared similar experiences or worse. Those who have stayed for more than three years are either deeply passionate about animal rights to the point of neglecting their well-being or feel they have no other job options. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground. I had the opportunity to work with some managers, and unfortunately, some of them lacked the empathy and compassion that PETA promotes. Furthermore, the organization could benefit from greater diversity. If animal rights and veganism are not exclusive to white people, it would be beneficial to see more representation of BIPOC individuals within the organization. Lastly, management sometimes made TOXIC remarks that pressured employees to work to the point of exhaustion, implying that not doing so meant not caring enough about animals. I attempted to discuss the high turnover and burnout with a few supervisors, but my concerns were largely ignored, leading me to ultimately resign.