Horrible management, even worse work environment - UX Designer Canonical Employee Review

1.0
Jul 3, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- competitive salary - fully remote work - week-long "sprints" every 6 months with fully paid travel and accommodation - an opportunity to network with very talented people (before they quickly leave the company)

Cons

- extremely high-pressure and stressful work. The company claims to follow a meritocratic system, but individual opinions don't matter and any employee initiative is frowned upon. - the management is notoriously horrible, with some managers exhibiting behaviors that can only be described as psychopathic. - employees are hesitant to seek promotions, as management is ever worse higher up the hierarchy. I have heard multiple stories of verbal harassment and humiliation in meetings from senior managers. - there is no compensation for overtime, but employees are encouraged to finish projects on time regardless of personal sacrifice. It is not uncommon to hear about coworkers working late or on weekends. - the turnover rate is extremely high, with employees either leaving or getting fired monthly. The company attempts to attract talent with promises of prestigious work in a progressive system, but the reality is an extremely rigid, toxic environment. - the company regularly hires employees from the Asia, Africa or Middle East with the promise of future relocation to the UK or an EU country where the company has a legal entity. However, I have never seen anyone successfully relocate. Instead, requests for relocation are quickly denied by management, making it seem like a false promise and a sleazy business practice. This tendency was more evident the longer I worked there. When I joined, I had a one-on-one meeting with a departing employee who told me, "The moment you start crying at this job, leave it and don't look back." I wish I had taken her advice sooner.

Explore other reviews about Canonical

5.0
Apr 18, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

very good. happy so far

Cons

could be better, like the time of application to final round

2.0
May 23, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Met some interesting people, had some interesting conversations.

Cons

Was constantly hearing bad stories about upper management. I only experienced the CEO expressing minor annoyance and paranoia a couple of times. My line manager always seemed to be treading water, fixated on dev-ops ceremonies, and didn't respect the opinions of his peers. The guy who was the "expert" for my field practised management by spreadsheet and was completely out of his depth, always obsessing about his approach to the work and inflicting his opinion on everyone else. Spent too much time having to plan for travel or hear about everyone's travel plans. Wasted so much time in the company's ongoing recruitment drive which pushes most of the work of interviewing and filtering candidates onto regular employees.

3
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