The Bloc Reviews

3.0

47% would recommend to a friend

(95 total reviews)

Jennifer Matthews

66% approve of CEO

46% positive business outlook

The Bloc has an employee rating of 3.0 out of 5 stars, based on 95 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The The Bloc employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Media and communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

95 reviews
1.0
12 Mar 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Nice flowers at reception. Clean office.

Cons

This company should have been sold a long time ago. If it was managed by executives and a parent company that had morals, valued people, had ethics, didn't turn a blind eye to corruption and dysfunction, it maybe would stand a chance to staying open. The only reason this agency is open, is because no one is brave enough to sue for the misconduct and way women are treated. I have never been treated with so much disrespect by managing partners, or leadership in my 15-year advertising career. Leadership is run by children. The CEO is at BEST an Account Supervisor. A female President who is diplomatic via email, but unable to delegate responsibility to the people she has hired to do a job. The agency is micromanaged by "executives" who don't know how to properly communicate, don't support their teams and only care about the bottom line. Any positive feedback this agency has reviewed on this website is written by Creative Directors who are best friends with the right people and have only had one job their entire career because they are lazy. Their work is non-existent. Their books? Ha. The employees who have drank the kool-aid and have worked there more than 8 years: working miserably, because they know they will never get paid their salary at any other NYC agency that would ACTUALLY critique their work. Nepotism is rampant. Employees who are toxic still have jobs because the CEO is too much of a COWARD to fire someone who isn't performing , because leadership cares more about appearance then the work. Leadership cares about looking "cool." The new Chief Creative Officer? Can't even write proper sentences in an agency wide email. My school age child can write better than the newly hired CCO who has no actual proven track record of success. Hired because he has won awards? Who actually WON the awards? Bait and Switch. I am ashamed to have worked at an agency that is centered on hypocrisy. Be great to do good?! The culture is non-existent. You are better off staying at a global agency - and HR has the power to help change the status quo. HR doesn't seem to have much say- on the outside the director is probably a puppet for the CEO. There are a handful of really talented people in this agency. Those employees, I give 30 days to realize the mistake they've made and can only encourage them to go back to their previous workplace. The SVP's and other high paid people will never leave because they know their work is MEDIOCRE. No one know what they are doing. Across the board incompetence, like I have NEVER witnessed in my entire life. You want to get paid a lot? Sure, join The Bloc - you are selling your soul and that paycheck comes at a high cost.

avatar
The Bloc Response
6y
We’re sorry that you were dissatisfied with your experience at The Bloc. We have inspired many employees both current and former who have had good experiences working for our clients and with each other. However, we feel strongly that some of the remarks made in this review are misleading and a reflection of someone wishing to harm our reputation. First and foremost, we strive to make The Bloc a great place to work. We cherish our inherently strong core values based on respect, integrity and diversity. We’re proud that our female CEO brings a fresh perspective and diversity minded leadership. We’re not perfect, can always do better and work hard at creating open lines of communication between employees and management to build an inclusive and trusting environment. The venting by a disgruntled few doesn’t diminish the many accomplishments and camaraderie of an Agency working hard to provide a positive and values driven work environment. Our growth over the last 2 years is a reflection of our leadership and community. We invite you to reach out to us directly to discuss your experience and welcome you to contact us at Peopleteam@thebloc.com.
1.0
7 Sept 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good place to land if the only skills you have is kissing up and politicking- the fragile egos here are pretty easy to manipulate. Looking for another job from here requires little effort (recruiters reach out in droves) and you don't need to answer that pesky question "why are you leaving your current job". Everyone knows exactly why you're leaving.

Cons

In an industry noted for toxic work cultures, theBloc could be a case study in self-selection to the bottom. More like a caricature than an actual agency, the only thing leadership seems to value is an ability to self-promote despite the lack of any discernible skill, knowledge, or creative talent. In fact, anyone displaying an ounce of strategic or operational ability is promptly ganged up on and driven out by the pack of power whores occupying middle-to-senior management positions. As a result, this place has difficulty delivering basic assets- editorial and strategic support is strong but operations and account management are a hot mess, and the creative teams are woefully unequipped to market to health care providers. In over 15 years in the industry, I've never seen creative/account teams so bad at their jobs. The only training going on seems to be how to throw your perceived enemies under the bus and/or take credit for any good idea you overhear. So, if you're one of those annoying people who are actually trying to do your job (don't expect a job description- they're nonexistent) to meet client needs, it can be extremely frustrating to even execute the "fly under the radar" strategy. You're going to need to kiss more unqualified butt here than anywhere else in the industry. One look at their self-branding should send you running. So awful. Predictably, HR is a joke so don't expect help there. They don't even bother with the pretense that they will listen to and address issues of employees. How they recruit new lambs to the slaughter and still sleep at night is a mystery. If you are looking for your first job in this industry, run. You will learn nothing here. Why waste time when you could be training up at a big shop?

1.0
4 Apr 2020

Creative

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

A few great people make work bearable.

Cons

I really felt the need to post such a negative review (I never have!!) because never in my entire career have I experienced such a toxic work environment. The majority of the people are there for the $$. Period. Nothing more. Nobody cares about team efforts, supporting one another or growing. Women are disrespected and I completely agree with a previous review on here - the CEO could care less about her employees. Please stay away - if you care about work culture and expect to work under experienced and talented management, do NOT work here.

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Glassdoor has 110 The Bloc reviews submitted anonymously by The Bloc employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if The Bloc is right for you.