Toxic culture with extreme hours and poor management - werkgeversreview Assistant Manager - Design bij DevX

Good company, founders are really trying to succeed, and they will listen to your ideas.

Small market and could create more products to expand.

Pros Salary is credited on time. Some colleagues are supportive and hardworking.

Cons The biggest challenge in this company is the leadership culture and complete disregard for employee work life balance. Meetings are frequently scheduled at unusual hours, including early mornings, late nights, lunch breaks, and even outside standard working hours. It is not uncommon to receive calls or meeting requests at times that disrupt personal commitments. At the same time, employees are expected to be available immediately, while meetings can be postponed or rescheduled at management's convenience. There is a strong expectation that employees should always be available, creating an environment where personal time is not respected. Over time, this leads to burnout and loss of work life balance. Many tasks are treated as urgent even when they clearly are not business critical. Employees are often pressured over minor administrative work, reports, spreadsheets, or learning assignments with unrealistic urgency attached to them. Missing such tasks can result in unnecessary criticism. Leadership frequently talks about avoiding mediocrity, but there is little focus on prioritization, planning, or efficient execution. Instead, employees are expected to constantly react to changing demands. The company has also become heavily focused on AI tools and productivity metrics, sometimes to the point where employees are treated more like machines than professionals. Expectations for faster and faster output continue to increase without considering workload, context, or employee wellbeing. Another concerning aspect is the lack of transparency around employee exits. Employees are sometimes encouraged to resign quietly, while a different narrative is presented internally. The overall culture creates stress, uncertainty, and a feeling that employees are valued only for output rather than as people.