I feel like I was manipulated into a job that I was not fairly compensated for. Within a few months of being hired my job title was changed but my salary was not. Leadership assured me that the two positions were in the same pay grade but after very minimal research it was obvious that my pay range should have increased a minimum of 20%-40%.
Work life balance was non-existent. During my first month, I was asked to work through the weekend and assured that this was a rarity that had never happened in that leaders tenure with the company. Unfortunately that was also a misleading comment as we found ourselves working on the weekends quite often. Logging on after hours and holding calls past working hours wasn't uncommon and leadership would gaslight us by telling us in our annual reviews and one on ones that working overtime was our own fault and had nothing to do with overworking us or our workloads. During the height of the pandemic this was only amplified as we were reminded how lucky we were to still be employed.
Raises and Bonuses are not a part of the culture of Koch businesses. After two years and countless accomplishments along with a tangible, reportable showing of substantial monetary gains to the company based on my employment and mine alone, I never received a single bonus or raise even though I was assured at one point by my leadership that I would. We were told that our raises were based on accomplishments outside of our Roles, Responsibilities, and Expectations that we were expected to update regularly which made it impossible for these raises or bonuses to happen. If you are contemplating joining a Koch company make sure that you are willing to negotiate a substantial starting salary because you will NOT be seeing any sort of fair pay past that initial starting salary.
My mental health really took a turn while I was working at Koch. I approached my leadership with the concerns I had and the struggles I was enduring mentally and physically due to the burden of stress and anxiety of the job. I was not properly trained, supported, or guided in my position. The work load was not feasible in the least and I was not given the tools to succeed. I asked for additional support from this leadership and was told simply that it was not that big of a deal and that I should just relax. I found myself with on going trauma after leaving Koch and I have had to seek help in an effort not to jeopardize my new endeavors.
