Future reviews

3.2

44% would recommend to a friend

(714 total reviews)

Kevin Li Ying

60% approve of CEO

36% positive business outlook

Future has an employee rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars, based on 714 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Future employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Media & Communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

714 reviews
2.0
May 5, 2015

House of cards

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Bagels on Fridays. Ample parking. Nice views of the Bay. Relaxed atmosphere. Close to the 101 freeway. Food trucks near by.

Cons

Parent company in the UK which made communication less than optimal along with cultural differences. Both UK and US businesses contracted heavily, shutting down publications, laying off scores of people. The US had been operating without any real vision of its own and lacked courage or the ability to move its products forward. It may be different now.

2.0
May 15, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Mostly, the employees care about what they're creating and the people with whom they're collaborating despite regular doom-and-gloom forecasts and constant belt-tightening. And most of people left there are highly creative, resourceful and good at their jobs. (They have to be, given the tight budgets and small staff sizes in each department.) Not that it adds all that much considering the negatives, the office location is nice, being right on the water along the San Francisco Bay. To many, that's offset by its relative seclusion--away from restaurants and shops, and away from San Francisco proper and with a limited shuttle schedule if you want to take the train.

Cons

Unfortunately, after numerous reductions in the job benefits, forced furloughs and a shrinking workspace over the past few years, if you stick around you become numb to how dire the situation truly is--especially when the UK parent keeps telling you that it's "turning the corner." And when headcount cuts happen (repeatedly), there's a potential for higher-ups to throw staff under the bus to save themselves, so you always feel like your job is sitting on the edge of a razor. In an Internet age, media business is evolving and companies/executives need to adapt, but Future can't seem to find its way to keep readership and find profit, so it loses (or kills off) great, established brands, and with that, loses lots of good, qualified people. I'm not sure the management--especially if there are new people regularly brought in to try to effect positive change--knows what it has to do to change with the landscape, so there's a lot of "let's try this...okay, now let's try this..." strategy shifting. It's sad, because the company successfully redefined itself a number of years ago (as it went from Imagine to Snowball, then to Future) and built its business back up, only to stumble badly as it seemingly missed seeing how the Internet was forcing it to radically change its business. Right now, I'm not sure it'll maintain relevance and find a good business model before its emperors discover they're not wearing any clothes...or more that the investors will discover the clothes they bought for the emperors aren't being worn.

1.0
May 21, 2013

Editor that's no longer optimistic...

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It USED to be a fun place to work. Friday bagels <-- isn't that sad this is considered a Pro?

Cons

Management (inexperienced). Lack of direction. Lack of leadership/focus.

Viewing 79 - 81 of 714 Reviews

Glassdoor has 788 Future reviews submitted anonymously by Future employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Future is right for you.