Reviews van Fourthline

The work environment at Fourthline was very volatile for Analysts because of the company's precedent of firing analysts indiscriminately, at a moment's notice. You just come to work and about an hour or so later, you're having a meeting with your team lead and they're letting you go for reasons such as being overqualified, having a strong personality or no reason at all. Two analysts were let go after they had already been employed, because the Company thought they were overqualified. They had in fact been working for about three months, and no, they were not on probation either. Another analyst was literally told that he has a strong personality before he was fired. The very next week, the company circulated a memo talking about diversity and inclusion in their workplace, how ironic? So as an analyst, you go to work everyday wondering if it is going to be your last because you don't know if your team lead would get offended or intimidated by your personality. One day, my team lead scheduled to have a talk with me, and I was already getting ready to log out, hand over keys and take a walk because that was the precedent that had been set. Secondly, the company places very little regard for analysts and the work that they do, even though analyst are an integral part of its core objectives. From the pay which is almost as low as the law would allow, to the analysts' contracts, to the work conditions and environment, it is very difficult to feel valued as an analyst at this company. This company is also severely opaque and dishonest. After the first bout of firing where several analysts were fired, they probably realised the moral among the remaining staff, and communicated that they were not going to terminate more contracts again, at least, not without notice. This was not the case. Barely a few weeks after, in particular, the Monday after a Friday party to celebrate the move to the new office building where the CEO had talked so much about the growth and expansion of the company, another set of contracts were terminated again with no reason given. As a matter of fact, the team leads did say that it was a random selection from the management. The common denominator among the analysts that were fired was that they were all immigrants (still with a valid visa at least for the initial duration of the contract, and some had even applied already to renew their visas). So if you're an immigrant worker in this company, your job could be in a very precarious position. For a company that paid lip service to the refugee crisis in Ukraine and how they could support immigrant workers, this is much hypocritical. One of the analysts that was affected had in fact been named the employee of the month by the same management. This should clarify why the work environment is highly volatile, because as an analyst, it doesn't really matter whether your KPIs are great. When it comes to termination of contracts, this company places no value even on the quality of your work. Analysts had been hired on an initial six months contract with the promise of a very high chance of renewal (9/10 as expressly stated by the company), worked to achieve company milestones, exceeded KPIs by more than double (literally, so much so that the KPIs had to be reviewed upwards). The immigrant analysts had communications with their team leads regarding their visa status, rather than be transparent with the analysts to let them know that the company would not sponsor their visas, they withheld their response, only to fire them two months or so later. Also, they talk a lot about trainings and opportunities for career growth just to keep you piqued and hopeful, but how are you ever going to get that growth, if they hire and fire at will? This company is simply not transparent. Another thing about the work environment is their so-called controlled environment policy. For the eight-hour duration of your shift, you're not allowed to seat with your mobile phone, jacket, bag, etc. This is despite the NDA that you will have already signed. First, the work IS monotonous and repetitive, and there can downtimes when there are no volumes and not much to do. Apart from the 30 mins unpaid break, you are only allowed 15 mins short-break (including trips to the bathroom) throughout the entire duration of your shift. You will find that this is a needless policy in similar companies, especially one where the employees are treated with respect and value. When you realise how precarious it is to work at this company and you start looking for better opportunities, you will run into issues picking recruiter's calls or scheduling interviews - it is a zero sums game. This company has a "common sense" rhetoric that is used in many communications - employee policy, Covid guides, team communications. Personally, I think that this is rude, harsh and emphasises the lack of value for the person of the employees. If you must make a communication or advisory about something, go ahead and do it, but it is needless to tell people to use their common sense, as if to say they have no common sense. Better results can be achieved with better rhetorics. Another thing about the work conditions is the rigid scheduling. At start, analyst are assigned specific shift times (without consultation for their preferences), that would continue throughout the contract. It is almost impossible to change this shift time if it is not suitable for you e.g . a 7:30am shift start. One analyst had a valid health reason why she needed her schedule to be adjusted and she was denied. Also, you can be scheduled to work on national holidays without your prior consultation. They offer some extra payment if you do work, but the initial scheduling is without your acquiescence.