Pros
You'll meet incredibly smart and talented colleagues here.
Cons
Proof is supposedly obsessed with people, with supposedly being the keyword here. How they think, who they trust, what matters to them and how to connect with them. You'd expect this obsession to translate to their employees but it, unfortunately, doesn't. The closer you look, Proof is a reflection of what Toronto’s corporate world looks like. Both try to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion, but they are also constantly confused by these seemingly basic ideas. A company that prefers to be stuck in its old ways. Proof says they value envisioning new approaches, but they've always been afraid of new ideas and changes. You may be on their blacklist if you dare to speak out against their traditional processes. In fact, they find ways to work against you if you consistently bring new ideas. A company that believes their people are disposable. Proof emphasizes that people are their priority. I will give them credit for hiring empathetic and curious individuals, but their commitment to helping professionals grow in a respectful and inclusive culture is questionable at best. There's no rhyme or reason to their promotion and growth opportunities, and even the most loyal and smart individuals have been let go mysteriously. This has been their toxic pattern, and it becomes painfully evident when they announce their job postings almost immediately before they let people go. To Proof, people have always been disposable. They say they care about their employees, but the reality is that they've always found ways to screw people over when they couldn't magically “afford" them. Make no mistake, Proof’s real objective is to take advantage of your time and hard work until they don’t deem you valuable. You’re simply a plastic bag drifting through the wind to them. A company that believes in selective transparency. Proof values transparency, but only when it benefits them. To existing employees, Proof states they’ve given multiple chances for employees to improve before they were let go, but that’s a blatant lie. Most employees who’ve been let go have been blindsided, and not one of them received any warnings or chances. Proof constructs an illusion of transparency to cover up such abominable acts so they can move on as if nothing happened. A company that is out of touch with their employees. Proof prides itself on providing a good work-life balance and an inclusive culture. However, that doesn't mean they fully understand what it takes to provide these concepts. No one in the leadership team tries to understand what it is like for lower-level employees, and they prefer to stay that way. Proof asks these lower-level employees to always work on several tasks without considering their time and stress. Great Place to Work is merely a ploy to make Proof more attractive, or some may say it's all smoke and mirrors. It’ll be years before you can judge if Proof’s business practices are sustainable long-term. Proof may have some good times left in them. They may have boosted their business outlook further if they had an ounce of care for their people. No one can answer any of those questions now. Toronto didn’t need another public relations agency, but Proof responded anyway by growing its business on a delusional utopia and outdated business strategies for nearly three decades. And in a hard-working but hypocritical city like Toronto, where older white male professionals reap the most benefits regardless of their level of contributions, Proof serves as an indisputable example of how ostentatious workplaces can fail miserably at honesty, inclusion and empathy. “We're obsessed with superficiality and stagnation.” They may as well put that on their water bottles now.
