the agency is lead by an executive leadership team who are all friends and have no idea what they are doing. I read this in Glassdoor reviews when I was interviewing, but the company was growing so quickly I thought they must be doing something right. I was wrong. the agency just had its second round of layoffs in 3 months. the CEO first blamed it on the delta in employee performance and low performers dragging the average down. on a call first announcing the 2nd layoffs, the CEO and COO started the call with a game of 'beach or mountains', asking staff to weigh on which they prefer, before launching into the content that outlined an organizational restructure (e.g. layoffs). major cringe. finally, on the call the night before the 2nd layoffs happened, the transition to remote work was blamed as the reason (yes, that did happen three years ago). no apology or admission of accountability in over-hiring. instead the CEO thought that was the right time to praise her own leadership style and let everyone know how bright the future was, after just announcing 10% of my peers would find out of they'd loose their jobs the next day. when a group of C-suites can't admit the mistakes they've made, it's very concerning how they might be able to navigate any roadblocks in the future. and when a marketing agency can't figure out how to talk to their staff in a way isn't utterly painful, it's a major red flag. as others have noted, they are also building a massive stand-alone building in NW to pay what is undoubtedly a large monthly rent payment for an a employee-base that was promised they would never have to work in office again (and many don't live in Portland). it's real a case of the external facade not matching the interworkings, and no true strategic leadership at the helm. and when we do hear from leadership, particularly the CEO, it's painfully out of touch and not congruent with the culture we live as employees.
