Be aware of the toxic - Anonymous employee TryHackMe Employee Review

1.0
2 Oct 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

100% remote Flexible working hours Team are really friendly and helpful

Cons

Micromanagement to an extreme has become present with the recent manager hires. Constantly being breathed down our necks. It makes you feel paranoid. I felt uncomfortable sharing ideas in the group chat without worrying that the manager will say something negative either in the group chat or in private. Even when the manager was off sick, it felt like they were still watching me, I would get message from them that said 'do not send anything to the others until I approve it first', which difficult since there was a deadline for the project and they were off sick. Poor career progression - every week you had to update Monday and Friday spread sheet on what projects you were doing that week and had to have a meeting with others giving each other the update. Plus every time the team clock out, we had to write a list of what task we did today and what we need to do tomorrow. if we did not do that, the manager will remind us. This again made me very uncomfortable and very paranoid that I felt like I was not doing enough compared to the others. Abrupt Redundancies: Employees easily made redundant without acknowledgment of their hard work. They will terminate you on the spot with not a care in the world. HR Team at the beginning can come across friendly, but you start to feel the tension later down the line. For example, being some-what force to have a company lunch once or twice a month online. I decided I didn't want to join (even though I thought I had a choice). When I let HR know, they ask me why and unless it's a good reason, what's the issue. That made me so uncomfortable and the bad tension to the point I gave in and said I would join, just avoid that question.

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TryHackMe Response
1y
Thanks for taking the time to share this feedback. We recognise the concerns around management style, communication, progression and how certain internal processes feel. As we scale, we’re evolving how we lead, support our teams and build a culture that balances accountability with trust. We’re also reviewing our approach to offboarding and engagement to ensure people feel respected and supported throughout their time here. We’re not perfect, but we are committed to learning, improving and creating the kind of environment where great people want to stay and grow.

Explore other reviews about TryHackMe

1.0
9 Apr 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Nothing that is worth mentioning.

Cons

It's very common for a start-up to reach a stage where they need to bring in an experienced CEO to replace young tech founders, and TryHackMe has reached this critical juncture. The product is great and has a lot of potential. The team is full of extremely talented individuals. Unfortunately, rotten apples in leadership are holding the company back, and that's a real shame. The two co-founders have no business acumen. They also seem to think they're experts in design, marketing, sales, you name it…go figure. TryHackMe is an HR/cultural nightmare. There is a well-meaning HR team, but no meaningful HR work is being done due to toxic "leadership." For example, the co-founders refuse to hold any version of an all-hands meeting because it's "too expensive." Yet they're confused as to why not everyone feels connected to the mission. Hmm, maybe it's because no one actually talks about it.  Next, the pay and "benefits." Co-founders love to shout from the rooftops about how the company is financially bootstrapped and stable. This sounds great until you realise it's mostly because they're paying people well below market rate and offer no real benefits. This company is the tech equivalent of Shein. If you want to be underpaid, undervalued, micromanaged, and spoken down to, this is the place for you! For everyone else, hold onto your self-respect and run far, far away.

16
avatar
TryHackMe Response
1y
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. We genuinely care about feedback and always want to improve. TryHackMe has grown fast, and with that growth comes change and challenge. We’re proud to be bootstrapped and profitable, especially in a market where layoffs are common. That independence means we grow on our terms, reward performance with bonuses and focus on building long-term value. We recently ran a company-wide engagement survey to understand where we can do better and we’re using that feedback to drive meaningful change. Our people team is rolling out initiatives to strengthen communication, enhance our offering and build a culture where people feel genuinely connected and supported. We’re a founder-led company and that won’t be the right fit for everyone, but for those who want real ownership, close collaboration and influence with decision-makers and the chance to shape a product with global impact, it’s an exciting place to be. We’re lucky to work alongside an ambitious, talented team who care deeply about what we’re building. We know there’s always more to do and we’re listening, learning and making TryHackMe a great place to work as we scale.
1.0
27 Nov 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

very good and collaborative team

Cons

Overworking is a must if you want to keep your job, low pay (location based) which is racist. They force you to install monitoring software, and the only benefit you will get is your actual salary (don't expect any pay raise). Overall just not worth it.

12
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TryHackMe Response
6mo
We’re sorry your experience felt this way. TryHackMe is a scaling company and there are periods of high pace where some teams may work longer hours, particularly around launches. We are open about this during the interview process so expectations are clear. For many people, that pace also comes with opportunities to work on exciting projects and meaningful initiatives with real career growth that they wouldn't be exposed to elsewhere. We use location based pay based on local market rates and cost of living indexes. This approach is not connected to race or background, and it’s designed to keep compensation competitive and fair across the 34 regions that we employ in. This means employees aren’t disadvantaged by where they live. We review our salary bands regularly and are transparent about how we benchmark compensation. We do not use employee activity monitoring software, and we have no intention of ever doing so. We use an MDM solution to meet security and compliance standards to maintain our ISO 27001 certification. This enforces protections such as encryption, patching, antivirus and screen lock policies. It is limited to device level security settings and cannot view, collect or access content stored on the device. Finally, we have held 3 rounds of pay review this year, including a cost of living adjustment at the start of the year for all eligible staff, and performance related pay rises, bonuses and promotions. You were not eligible for the former as you were paid at the highest end of your salary band for your role and location. For any future candidates, we welcome questions about workload, pay and security tooling during the interview process. Thanks
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