— Established and scrutinizing in-office culture. If you don't "fit in" or participate in the clique of a department, there is only one outcome for you, socially. I have witnessed an upsetting presence of drama, gossiping, and outright bullying. Grown adults teasing others and then manipulating the Director to slip by is just depressing. Everyone talks about everyone, and if you don't get "with it" or bow down, you WILL be humiliated. I have watched it happen and drive new hires out in 4- to 6-month cycles, and I can't say for certain whether that's part of the constant need to hire in this particular department. Either way, anyone can tell you there is social discord both present and prevalent. Unfortunately, I must add that I've also witnessed select employees entirely fabricate lies about others for some combination of entertainment and control, and at a couple points, jeopardizing their employment.
— Highly unprofessional/inappropriate verbal chatter. At the risk of appearing prude, I do personally get uncomfortable after hearing about the sexual life of a narcissist and their Tinder personality analyses after the 8th or so instance per payroll. We also talk to the families of people who just had someone die, daily, and while it is rare that the noise level is an issue during those particular calls, I don't think it's asking too much to say the setting warrants those kinds of conversations to altogether be left to the private Teams chats they think nobody else knows they have. Raunchy, judging, and outright mean banter across the office is regular, encouraged, and of course, you become the target if you protest.
— Not the company's fault, but given the location, there's simply no guarantees about vehicle safety or road closure/accessibility.
