Your first day at LegitScript is a bit overwhelming. The office is bright, the welcoming smell of coffee lingers everywhere, and everyone is dressed casually. It's most likely a stark difference to your previous jobs and because of that, it's easy to overlook what lies beneath the bells and whistles.
Flex time! Sounds great right? Well the term as a company policy means you set a schedule where you can come in earlier/later and leave earlier/later, but considering that this is a salaried job, why even have these boundaries? I understand that some people need to be around at certain times but forcing a set schedule to salaried employees seems a bit oppressive. It appears that they don’t trust you enough to fulfill your responsibilities, so they impose a stranglehold on your time there. And by stranglehold, I truly mean stranglehold. Want to leave 15 minutes early on a Friday? You need to get it approved by multiple people. I’ve worked hourly jobs that gave more leeway.
But hold on, there’s a barista? And it’s free?? Free massages too?? Catered lunches??? Insane PTO???
This place has a crazy amount of perks but it all comes at a price, namely the salary and health benefits. The salary when compared to similar jobs is extremely low and the health benefits that are touted as being exemplary don’t live up to the hype. Additionally, bonuses are scant and seem to only be doled out to higher-ups, raises are infrequent, and promises of promotions are simply lip service.
But here lies the ultimate truth about LegitScript: all the 21st century touches in the office (breast pump room, bike tire pump station, etc.) are there to try to make up for the fact that upper management actually cares about your well-being. In my experience, they do not.
Past reviews have mentioned people being laid off and fired but in my opinion it’s not getting enough attention. They have laid off an obscene amount of people in the past few years—so much so that it’s just suspicious. The CEO can claim it’s due to people not fitting into the “culture,” but when cheery, hard-working coworkers get the swift axe without a clear reason, something is up.
But this brings up the most crucial question surrounding this company: what is the culture? The CEO drones on and on about it but I still have no idea what the culture truly is. I think they’ve realized people’s confusion over this because they instituted four extremely vague core values to try and explain it. Here’s what they are:
“Be Awesome” - you know what I think is awesome? The legalization of marijuana and its benefits to the economy. Does the CEO think that? No, so does that make me not awesome in his eyes? What else do I do or believe in that is deemed not awesome by senior staff? Who knows, but at least I got some itchy socks we were gifted with this unclear value printed on them. Now when I tie my shoes, I can be reminded to be awesome, at least by someone else’s standards.
“Be Open” - again, ambiguous. Open to what? Am I open to change? Sure, to a point, just like anyone. But am I open to change without an explanation? Something like moving seats every month for no reason, or changing program formats for no reason and without any tutorials, or instituting new methods of doing our job for no reason except that senior staff thought of it? No, I am not. But I have to keep my mouth shut, because if I naysay, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be considered open.
“Be Thoughtful” - more ambiguity. Be thoughtful as in be kind? You can try but don’t expect upper management to be. I had numerous life events (some positive and some negative) that upper management knew about that were treated with indifference. Don’t expect a card or flowers or even a kind remark if you go through something, but be sure to pet the dog every time she comes around! And be sure to smile 24/7, especially when the CEO or senior staff walk by! You wouldn’t want to be seen as unthoughtful.
“Be Invested” - is doing your work enough to be deemed “invested?” By most standards, yes it is. But what does that word really mean by LS standards? Does being invested mean breaking your back appeasing ridiculous goals set by clueless upper management? Does being invested mean creating endless pie graphs that highlight your performance (read: defend your job status) because senior staff are too lazy to fully understand the aspects of your job and think simple metrics determine your success at your position? Does being invested mean not speaking up when you have concerns about professional decisions because you’ve seen a lot of your friends being canned for no reason whatsoever and you’re afraid about job security? Who knows.
Bottom line, the culture exists as an abstract idea, and I think that’s the point. They’re attempting to organize the company culture as this amorphous entity, where guidelines and goals can be stretched to hurt you if they don’t like you. Also, they can be stretched to defend the company against criticism, which only exists in whispers since everyone is so afraid of speaking up. It’s honestly disgusting that the company is being run this way and I’m glad I’m no longer working there.
But I do have to say that there is one positive thing that came out of leaving this company—I currently have a much better job, one that actually cares about my well-being and respects my opinion. It's apparently a rare thing nowadays.
