Pros
Getty Images has a set of Leadership Principles that are the ethical, moral foundations on which the company stands. *WAIT!* Don't run away. These are not empty, boilerplate business aphorisms. They account for fifty percent of each employee's annual review, from C-suiters to line workers. Did you live up to the LPs or not? That may make your eyes roll, but it is the mortar that binds employees together. These are a set of values that align us worldwide, maintain a common focus and trajectory in our efforts. There is also an unwritten policy we employ: the No [sphincter] Rule. This is real. I know of at least two high-ups who thought they could throw their weight around and be verbally abusive. Imagine their surprise when they were booted. All of which is great; everyone works from the same playbook, bad actors get weeded out fairly quickly, and you know where you stand. I am especially thankful for the company's compassion for employees’ welfare. Sure, we have flexible office hours and an extra-liberal work from home policy, but it is really on display when turbulence or trouble hits at home. I know of multiple employees, (including me,) who have been subject to profoundly disruptive events in their personal lives that required protracted time away from work to address. These were crises that could easily have swallowed people and left them in danger of being canned, but that proved not at all the case. In my situation, managers and HR worked to modify my sked & workload, helped search for resources to address the issue and checked in regularly to make sure I was doing well emotionally and had the support I needed to help my family. It sounds trite, cliché, but they really did act like family, and I can never be anything but supremely grateful for this. Over the course of my time here I have been encouraged to carve out a niche for myself, to develop my strengths and interests and to run with them. I know this is promoted where possible, so employees stay more engaged, grow rather than stagnate. This was not always the case. Long-termers remember a time where you did what you did and that's all you could look forward to, ever. That's very much not so anymore, as employees can get mentors, create their own goals, rise within departments or transfer among others as skills and interests evolve. Company leadership is very clear with the troops in regularly communicating where the business stands and where they are guiding us, positioning us on the road ahead. We have monthly (voluntary attendance!) meetings where the latest product updates are discussed in detail. Good stuff, all of it.
Cons
All that legitimate praise aside, Getty Images is still a company, and work by its nature is going to be less fun than daydreams of living your best Mega-Millions lottery life. To my mind, it's all penny-ante stuff, but for some the following may be real “Check please!” groan-inducing deal-breakers. There are “personalities” here, by which I mean we have some empire-builders, some “I ams.” Not many of them, and they’re genial, but they do walk among us. I mentioned the Leadership Principles. If you can’t comport yourself to those guidelines, you’re going to find life here uncomfortable. They are brought up regularly, and if just reading about this irks you, think twice about applying. We love meetings, some of which approach bladder-busting, trans-Atlantic flight time lengths. A running joke here, as is probably true universally, is our tech people replying “We are unable to replicate your reported problem,” and that being the end of it, you still stuck with whatever your problem was. That isn’t usually the case, but it does happen enough for the rank-&-file to have made it a punchline. We could not function without ticketing systems. We have tickets for every conceivable thing, from matters financial to replacement computer cables to reporting spelling errors on photo captions. At one time we had a ticket to request new tickets. I’m still not sure it was facetious. If there's data to be had, we measure, analyze, slice it, dice it, and pivot-table information to the ninth decimal; we are data-insatiable, and having a perverse affinity for Excel will give you Getty cred. I mentioned annual reviews, but in truth we also have smaller scale check-ins halfway through the year, mini reviews. That is in addition to monthly one-on-ones with our managers. It's all for the good, I know, checking in to catch any problems early on, but it can still feel like a journey back to fifth grade. To show you how churlish I am: as a result of Covid, the company has an *exceedingly* liberal work from home policy, (which I make maximal use of.) Simultaneously, because so few people now go to the office, we have switched from permanent this-is-my-desk spaces to an impersonal, antiseptic desk reservation system. Sure, that means Getty Images can reduce its carbon footprint and increase bottom-line revenue, but something is decidedly lost in not being able to see and to interact with all those people one used to encounter daily. That truly is a loss, because they are a thoroughly decent bunch of co-workers, and there were always good laughs to be had in the day-to-day badinage.
