Pros
- An interesting problem space and genuinely complex problems to solve
- Some nice colleagues; genuinely friendly, helpful and kind
- The rooftop in the office building is great - 10/10
Cons
- A psychologically damaging culture: this is an environment with no psychological safety. Micromanagement is a problem across multiple teams and openly acknowledged as a leadership style. It's justified as necessary. When I raised the micromanagement problem, I was gaslit. If you try to state a boundary, good luck. It will be ignored and/or you'll be spoken of disparagingly.
- Hive is a hustle culture: people work long hours without compensation. You're expected to 'grind' and do more, even working through your lunch break on a consistent basis. Meetings are regularly scheduled past 5-6pm.
- Hire and fire environment: people live in fear of whether they'll pass probation. This goes across MULTIPLE teams, which means this is a company culture issue, not just specific departments.
- Hive has had multiple rounds of layoffs since 2023 but won't tell you this when you join. Even if you've been there for years, you could be let go.
- Leadership is a boys club. Multiple women in senior leadership have left quickly or been let go. Women leaders who join do not seem to last long.
- Company strategy is unclear and keeps changing. This is an issue because it results in whiplash for people, unclarity about roles and has eventually led to layoffs.
- Much of senior leadership do not have leadership experience outside of Hive, which shows in how they operate, handle problems and relate to employees with experience.
- As other reviews have noted, over Black Friday and early December there is a vacation freeze. So you cannot book any holiday at all. Additionally, HQ employees are made to work two shifts in the warehouse (picking items, packing parcels etc) during this time, this is mandatory.