I’m sharing my concerns mostly relevant to the administrative role with Farnsworth to provide honest forewarnings so that interested applicants know what they are walking into and can ask for better. A particular part of upper management within the company has no respect for admin work and treated me poorly.
Farnsworth did not honor multiple salary related benefits that were agreed upon prior to me accepting the job:
A big selling point they sold me prior to hiring was tuition reimbursement. Within a few weeks of starting, I asked how I’d start the tuition reimbursement and they said they don’t actually offer it. This should have been a red flag, but I overlooked it and stayed with the company.
They said I’d receive a raise within a specific range after a year with the company since they were unwilling to negotiate a pay rate initially, but I had to ask for it at the year mark after receiving a raise lower than the range discussed and they only adjusted to give the absolute minimum of that range, despite nothing but positive feedback for my work and exceeds expectations on all performance reviews. I only received positive feedback the entire time I worked at the company which I am proud of, that is difficult to obtain and maintain, yet I did not receive any tangible reward for high quality hard work beyond words which are ultimately empty.
They said I’d receive a substantial raise when I received my bachelor’s degree which I was in the process of completing, hence the appeal for tuition reimbursement, and when that time came around, I was told they would not even consider a raise, again not honoring an agreement that was established prior to me accepting the job. This was very upsetting as it was a major driving force to stay with the company and they did not honor it when the time rolled around.
They said the yearly holiday bonus would be comparable to what I received at my previous company and two years in a row it was 1/10th what I received at my previous company, and this was with performance reviews stating that my work exceeded expectations with only positive remarks. My bonus was the same as other architects who also received great performance reviews so it is not only admins who receive several hundred dollars for a bonus, less than a week's worth of pay.
Farnworth waited to allow people to work from home during the pandemic until the government closed down the state and claimed they were essential providing letters to staff to use in the event they are questioned on the way to the office. Farnsworth micromanaged during this time to an absurd degree as many managers expressed they disagreed with which made many staff members including myself feel untrusted, a slap in the face for being a loyal and hard worker.
I was one of the few admins permitted to work from home for a short period of time before they forced me to come back into the office and sit completely alone as soon as the shelter at home order was lifted while everyone else in our office of 60 was allowed to continue working from home. Farnsworth only has clients for visitors and since everyone was working from home and no meetings were taking place in the office, it was completely pointless for me to be in the office yet they demanded I come in since the office was reopening, even though the doors to the suite would remain locked to the public.
I was also the only employee that stopped into the office everyday during the lockdown for housekeeping items, but they did not grant hazard pay. When I returned to the office it was very isolating and lonely and on top of it, I wasn’t allowed to use any kitchen amenities, to include the fridge, microwave, plateware, silverware, coffee/tea, etc. so the office was unusable yet they wanted me in it alone for more than a month. This was disrespectful and the breaking point for me along with the aforementioned salary and benefit failures.
Farnworth employees were livid with upper management prior to the state going into lockdown and the company handled it as poorly as they could have, the consensus was that the executive management lacked compassion or empathy. I had just completed a business ethics course in my schooling and would agree, Farnsworth has obvious areas for improvement. There were layoffs and furloughs during the pandemic but they hired a bunch of new people not even two months after the layoffs.
They consolidated two admin jobs into one, mine, and I had to take on other admin work from other offices too for admins who weren’t allowed to work from home during the lockdown. Admin work in the office I worked in is a two person job, as it was staffed accordingly with two employees up until a few months before I resigned when my role had another admin position consolidated into mine and it became nearly impossible to keep up with the responsibilities.
Many employees regularly complained to me about the lack and lackluster of office activities that I tried my best to run with what was a severely constricted budget. I saw how much activities boosted morale and fostered comradery within the office but Farnsworth did not seem to see the benefits in creating an upbeat and friendly environment and limited office perks.
Farnsworth also handles terminations very bizarrely and they do not share with staff when employees leave which leaves coworkers confused. Staff have the right to know who does or does not work in their office, they don’t need any other details beyond that, but Farnsworth keeps turnover hidden.
I hope Farnsworth takes the concerns I passed along to them seriously and implements change. The office I worked in has a different culture than most of the other offices in the midwest. There is some sexism amongst the office still, but at a certain point it's not surprising given the demographic of the company that also lacks diversity.
All in all I am disappointed with Farnsworth and it's a shame that they chose to push me into a position where I either needed to leave or forgo self respect to continue working for them.
