Native Instruments reviews about "culture"

poor management, no promotion policy

We are getting better at working across our different geographics and locations, but room for improvement, its a very paced workplace driven by product releases, passionate leaders mean that arte easer to make a mark means there is a lot happening at once.

Strap in. More than anything, the biggest downside is there is little to no stability here. There are constant departures from senior positions, and the threat of layoffs is always seen in everyone's eyes. Every all hands feels like a layoff is coming. People who've worked for the company for decades have been jumping ship for years with no real effort to rehire to these roles. Very low possibility for career advancement. Especially in creative roles, people do not commonly get promoted or even given raises. The pay is also massively substandard for a company of NI's size and industry notoriety. No bonuses, many years without a raise. The company is always strapped for cash, despite how badly it wants to make every year like 2020 when we were all inside making music. After being bought by private equity, it's gotten much worse. The executive team feels like they're just coasting on big salaries until the company folds. C-suite frequently in flux, with 6+ CEO changes over four years and a revolving door of other leaders, it always felt like NI wasn't on stable footing. Overall, the frequent change in leadership and management by private equity transitioned the company from a passionate audio company focussed on making interesting and compelling products people wanted, to a business that was more focussed on constantly re-releasing old products with few updates to squeeze what cash they can out of their customer base. Creativity both in app development and marketing was quashed in the interest of making the safe sale. Finally, they treat their people like statistics. Frequently, layoffs and firings happen right after product launches; as soon as you finish a massive campaign or project, someone will come in with an AI-written termination notice and drop you like a hot potato.

NI has the resources, attitude, and headcount of a start up but the structure and management style of a much larger company. The result is a lot of process, bloated management structures, wasted time in meetings, and fewer resources to do tangible work. There's a strange culture of positive confirmation and back-slapping that distracts from the actual challenges faced in the company. I am not sure this will change. Top-down strategy changes on an annual basis and has done for years. The market is changing, but senior leaders should be able to make 5-year calls with confidence. (This has improved with the current senior team in-post much longer than their predecessors) Career progression is almost non-existent, and pay is lagging. Initiatives to map this out are taking YEARS. Lots of residual resentment from previous years of instability. Slowly ebbing but remains. NI previously had a start-up culture paired with German job security. It has shifted (for better or worse) to a US-style company, backed by PE, and with the pressures that come with that. This is important to understand when working there.

poor upper - management people leaving left and right many layoff waves in the last years no bonuses

The company culture may not be suitable for everyone, especially those seeking a more diverse and supportive work environment. There is burnout and frustration among employees, contributing to a predominantly negative atmosphere. Many colleagues are frustrated due to e.g. a lack of recognition, insufficient resources, and below-industry-standard payment, in some cases. The workload demands can be excessive, leading to emotional distress for some team members during meetings. Although diversity is claimed as a priority on paper, middle management primarily consists of white alpha males lacking authentic diversity skills, empathy, and emotional intelligence. Some directors even promote an unhealthy burnout culture and exhibit overt, yet unintentional forms of discrimination. They are very good at talking and will talk about their own vacation and projects in your 1:1s because they see you as a number.

Management is out of control