Mars Reviews

Be warned. Mars has a very peculiar culture that allows management to bully their staff. You are expected to work overtime without any additional pay. Projects are never finished as priorities are changed on a daily basis. You will then get the blame in your annual review. Only those that are friends with the management team get promoted. Young people do not stay in that company, most leave within 2 years or so. I would never recommend this company and urge anyone to stay away. It’s simply to worth the stress. You will be undervalued, over worked and pressured. I’ve seen grown adult men cry due to the overloaded pressures of the job. The smart ones leave and this is my intention.

Unfortunately, line management at Mars changes a lot and can be very varied - I had 3 line managers in my first 18 months. There are a lot of challenging line managers and even if multiple people complain, nothing is done. Fundamental flexible working is not great with multiple people being refused the option; if you are not in the right position, level or in with the right people, it won't happen. Whilst the benefits are great, base salary leaves a lot to be desired. Trying to get promoted in Mars is really difficult; it is even challenging to go horizontally. They put you in boxes through an annual leadership review and you get no real say in it. It is through this where they decide whether you are leadership potential or not. Trying to get things done is a nightmare - sometimes you have/want to be incredibly quick but the red tape and collaboration means that it is difficult to be quick. It can take months to do things that should only take a few days. Sometimes, you are close to the end and your project is deprioritised and all your work is wasted which is incredibly disengaging. Whilst there is a focus on engagement, it is about numbers and exercise - I think it use to mean something but it has lost its focus.