Amazing product, terrible leadership, toxic work environment - Anonymous employee S'well Employee Review

1.0
23 May 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Happy hour, Bagel Mondays, Equinox Membership

Cons

Don't get me wrong, the S'well brand revolves around a collection of a few beautiful products that also happen to help save our planet! Nothing wrong with that. While it felt amazing to be part of a greater purpose, the work environment was by far the most toxic place I have ever worked at. Portrayed as a woman led company, S'well is run mostly (solely) by a few power-hungry men who could learn a thing or two about the current gender focused political climate. Despite the many resignations, neither the CEO , nor HR seem to understand how toxic the upper management team is. The people actually doing the work get no recognition and get pushed around. Do not work here if you are a female and/or believe in equality in the work place. S'well has the potential to get back on its feet and be the company it was a few years ago but at the moment, stay away.

Explore other reviews about S'well

5.0
21 Dec 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Responsible for Creative direction, hands on learning experience, integrated with the wider company, good insight into a start up

Cons

Public speaking on the internet

1.0
26 Jan 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The day-to-day responsibilities covered a large variety of things, so you were able to see the aspects of almost every area of the company. Everyone who does the execution of campaigns is very talented and collaborative, scrappy, and able to do much with the little resources onhand. Company name still has brand equity (though doesn't hold up with a quick peek behind-the-scenes).

Cons

I have never seen a workplace that is so toxic from the top-down. Management often covers themselves by throwing their own teams under the bus - important meetings are rescheduled with little-to-no notice, priorities and product launches change based on opinions from senior management rather than data-driven decisions. Managers bully their own teams regularly, but have little grasp their own teams' actual scope of work. I have heard multiple discriminatory comments from senior managers that would have been grounds for firing at any other company (or a company with a working HR department). There are seemingly different rules for different departments - I witnessed, and had it happen to me, where other teams, would get in trouble for product decisions made far before it ever got to our desks. This resulted in late nights, being yelled at by management, and starting projects over multiple times. Personally, I had to completely cut caffeine out because of the stress and daily panic attacks this job caused me. I have yet to hear of a single person who is happy here. If you can work anywhere else, I recommend that you do.

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