TOXIC Management & Culture. High Turnover, POOR pay. POLITICS. Companies like this are why 'corporate' has a bad rep.
Pros
Provided a prime example of the type of organisation one should never work for. Working here made me re-assess and stick to my non-negotiables.
Cons
Management across the board! ...and I do mean across the board! ...From top office level, even across to HR. The well-below market pay, having to make sure HR has paid you correctly and management's avoidance/reluctance and discouraging nature on having discussions about salary increase. Culture and people. Working at Apex was like asking 'What came first? The chicken or the egg?" By that, I mean: The culture at Apex has genuinely been the worst I've experienced working for any company. Management and team leads were extremely rude - dare I say they'd long crossed over into bullying (targeting those they don't like and finding fault in anything) territory, based on some of the obviously uncalled for/ridiculous encounters I'd been on the receiving end of and some conversations with colleagues who have, randomly and of their own accord, confided in me about unprofessional/uncalled for remarks they've heard individuals say in the office when the 'person of discussion' isn't around etc. This all makes me wonder: Did the toxic culture at Apex make good people turn toxic? Or did the toxic culture, instead, attract the only type of people who could endure there in the first place: toxic people? Now don't get me wrong, there were some cool people at Apex, but they were few and far between, as they left - hence the high turnover. One manager in particular would 'act' friendly with you when they get their way...but the second you hold them accountable regarding doing their part of a delegated workload that they'd already agreed/accepted to do in the presence of another manager, but now want to pass onto you when said manager isn't around, they hold a grudge and become an extremely unpleasant character to interact with. I also observed that Apex had what I call a 'pass on the message' culture. Meaning, if someone had an issue with you, no matter how small/trivial, people seemed to lack the maturity or competence to address it with you directly. Instead, they'd voice the smallest matter to a manager, to then discuss it with you. Meaning anyone could find themselves having literally a 30sec - 1min convo with a manager about something so petty.
