Worst aspects of start-up culture meet worst aspects of corporate culture
Pros
There is a "Green Initiative" which consists of separate trash cans for different types of refuse (although most people don't really follow the designations) and signs above light switches telling you to turn off the light when you leave the bathroom. Working hours are from 9 to 6, although you may arrive as early as 8, thus being allowed to leave at 5. Depending on your direct manager, "punching the clock" may or may not be allowed. There are more female employees than male employees, and chances of career development seem comparable across the sexes. Free snacks, fruit, water, coffee, employee rebates on the heavily marked-up Wayfair products.
Cons
The general atmosphere in the Merchandising department is one of worry. Most people have lived through at least one mass-firing, and employees tend to leave after a year (max.) in quite a public manner. Employees tend to send farewell e-mails to the entire company, which works to emphasize the amount of people leaving/being fired. Contracts are time-limited, and at least half of those up for renewal are not renewed. False promises of renewal occur as well. Management at Level 3 and above (everything above "Team Lead" and "Assistant Manager") tends to care little about the concerns of their underlings. Even Level 2 employees are rarely privy to what will happen a month or more down the road, and are often caught just as off-guard as their Level 1 subordinates when restructurings or firings (both of which are not a rarity) happen. The Merchandising department is quite a Machiavellian environment, where many low-level employees are seeking to advance at any cost. Accordingly, many friendships exist, but when push comes to shove, don't be surprised if you're thrown under the bus, should it be of advantage to others. The Merchandising department consists of teams tasked with data entry. Essentially, these processes could easily be automatized, as they consist of the same few tasks, repeated ad nauseam. Accordingly, tasks are increasingly migrating offshore, to subcontracted companies in India and Vietnam, leading to a further sense of insecurity among low-level employees. While you will have regular 1-on-1's with your direct manager, and company-wide meetings are not a rarity, real, pressing information tends to be withheld from employees below Level 3 until the moment of (e.g. your team will be shut down, you are to switch teams, your team will be merged with another team, etc.). Tools are proprietary, quite buggy and slow. Servers are hosted out of Boston, and thus any requests take a long time to complete (expect Windows Explorer and macro-laden Excel sheets to freeze regularly). It is not a rarity that software or tools will be down; on a given week, expect to sit staring blankly at an unresponsive screen for at least 1-2 hours. There are only 5 or so employees aged 40 or older (in Europe). Who you know trumps how you perform. If you're not a social animal, forget a promotion. Despite the company's being traded on the stock market in the United States, the average starting salary in Berlin is below the average starting salary for STARTUPS in Berlin. Furthermore, the Merchandising department is paid far less than all other departments. No one in Germany knows of Wayfair's existence. The few individuals with whom I've spoken who had heard of the company knew it only due to having had problems with an order (or knowing someone else for whom this had been the case). Level 3 and 3+ employees act as though Level 1 employees do not exist, favoritism runs rampant (e.g. quid pro quo during the review cycle - I give you a good review as a manager, you put in for my promotion), performance is irrelevant insofar as you do not have a wide social network within the department.
