Pros
- The people I directly worked with at Crain are some of the most genuine people I've met. I still regularly talk to many of my former coworkers despite leaving the company almost a year ago. - Strong exposure to the various industries the publications are working on, in addition to the inner workings of the publishing industry itself - Large company so there's usually an opening at another publication if you'd like to move around - Tons of responsibility available if you choose (or don't) to take it
Cons
- Employees are completely overworked. The bottom line comes before employees' capacity, quality of life and just hours in the day. The company has seen plenty of people quit because there isn't enough support for their roles. - Pay is aggressively mediocre and honestly quite low for NYC. I received one cost of living raise in my time there (which truly didn't account for the actual cost of living change). My responsibilities increased in my time at Crain and when I asked for a title change, not even a promotion, I was told I needed more time but was then shortly promoted to a corporate department for a 7% raise. - Corporate is constantly in flux between outsourcing and internalizing different departments within publications. In my time, I saw multiple departments at my publication eliminated to be outsourced or brought under corporate reins. This causes a lack of job security. - Leadership admitted they want to turn their focus to print — a dying trade. They refuse to make necessary tech and process upgrades to the frustration of staff who would like to have jobs in coming years. The organization is not friendly to anyone who is not a white cis straight man. - After multiple asks to the leadership team for more LGBTQ support, the head of HR told people they wanted to support the community and to send in ideas — rather than bring in a professional who can take on that burden instead of putting it on those who are marginalized. A colleague told me she sent a suggestion to HR and never heard back/it wasn't acted on. - Conversations around race are even worse. Leadership doesn't know how to address the problem head on and always deflect answers during town halls or respond so poorly you almost wish they hadn't. In both regards, more training is incredibly important for the leadership teams of Crain and each publication. Multiple promising candidates who were female and/or POC were passed over for leadership positions that ultimately ended up going to white men.
