New York Times Reviews

Former Employee – worked at New York Times full-time for more than a year

Pros – Amazing office and cafeteria.

Extremely talented developers.

The opportunity to work with some of most talented journalists in the world.

Flexible on time off and decent health benefits.

Looks great on your resume.

Cons – Stagnant leadership: The senior management team are "institutionalized" lifers that lack hands on digital business experience outside of the Times.

nepotism: promotions, resources and high visibility projects are often given to friends of senior management without regard for skills or experience.

class divide: the place is controlled by a clique of 1 percenter Ivy League MBA's that have little regard for the ideas and opinions of anyone outside their group.

lack of diversity: for all of the ethnic diversity in NYC , only a small percentage of the overall management ranks are ethnic minorities.

constant turnover: talented and dedicated employees are constantly leaving because of the insular management and lack of advancement opportunities.

Advice to Senior Management – Focus on career development and promote employees based on skills and not their academic credentials or socioeconomic class.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at New York Times full-time for more than a year

Pros – Commute to Times Square is easy.

Some genuinely smart people work here.

It's a brand people actually recognize.

Company work hours are pretty flexible.

Cons – Oh boy:

Complete lack of direction from upper and middle management. Teams even under the same director actively do not speak to one another, causing a litany of fiefdoms, duplication of effort, and other forms of waste and intrigue.

Nepotism is extremely strong here. Managers seem to heavily favor people with whom they have worked before. You can see waves of people flocking in from <insert company here> at a given time because they have hired someone in management from <insert company here>. No actual vetting of these people can occur and it's outright heresy to question.

The company has a schizophrenic culture based on young people fresh into the field wanting to only do new things to older people stuck in the past wanting to only do things their way. There is often little to no middle ground or attempts to create standards, with phrases such as "it stifles innovation" strewn about.

Retention rates are abysmal. In less than two years I have become a long-timer. That not only leads to a constant brain drain, but it has created so many promotions of the "last man standing" as to exacerbate the poor quality of the middle management. Promotions are also so irregularly given with some groups heavily favored by management over others without merit or reason that it hastens the departure of the actually talented.

Advice to Senior Management – Uh, speak to each other once in a while and try to actually create some standards within the organization, or you'll continue to sink a ship already in a dying industry.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at New York Times full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Great Diversity - there are many groups/networks at the NYTimes which you can become a part of to meet people outside of your department - Women's Network, Book Club, Toastmasters, etc

Great location - located near Times Square, so easily accessible by multiple trains, but not directly in the hustle and bustle of the center of Times Square.

Cons – Lack of mobility and career development.
I have seen many people get stuck working on the same thing for several years with little to no recognition, only to leave the company very bitter and disappointed.

Advice to Senior Management – Management does not care about its employees so I have no advice for them.

My advice to potential employees would be to start planning your exit strategy as soon as you arrive. The NYTimes will look great on your resume. If you plan to leave within a 2-yr period, you will gain some contacts and some prestige. Do not expect to work on anything super interesting. Instead use the time to bolster your resume and use your spare time (which you will most likely have because the work is not evenly distributed) to learn new technologies which will be of use in your next position.

Current Employee – been working at New York Times

Pros – Good sales training from corporate office. Good benefits.

Cons – Didn't make enough money compared to similar positions in other cities.

Advice to Senior Management – Better communication with employees and recognition for meeting goals.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at New York Times

Pros – I was part of a strong creative group.

Cons – Very weak management, position was part of a union

Advice to Senior Management – Digital Advertising leadership is quite weak and hierarchical

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at New York Times

Pros – Despite the newspaper industry's revenue downturn, the Times has solid management who are hard at work to ensure the company's future.

The Times' has upgraded to modern OSS technology over the last three years - big plus.

Cons – The Times froze salaries over the last couple years - makes moving to another company difficult if you're negotiating from a lower base pay than you ought to be getting, if you were at another company.

Don't expect to advance beyond the job you are hired unto, not unless you're ready to be both software developer and project manager. Project management at the times is nearly non-existent, and the few there have little technical knowledge. Those who can both develop and manage their projects may eventually be anointed into management (read: lots of overtime, and then you're no longer a developer.)

Annual reviews are totally skewed: employees are given an overall rating of 1-5, and 95% or more get a 3. A handful get a 4, and one or two get 5. People who get below a 3 are on their way out.

Advice to Senior Management – Provide advancement opportunities for developers in addition to the management path. Provide a handful of developer roles that offer an upgrade path. There are basically two developer job titles: Software Engineer and Senior Software Engineer. Add to that a few others that reflect the type of work, i.e. specialization. A developer who has shown proficiency in their area of work should be rewarded with a better title, e.g. Senior Platform Software Engineer II.

Current Employee – been working at New York Times

Pros – -- job security
-- location (easy commute)
-- stature

Cons – -- little or no career development
-- a newsroom in the midst of major downsizing
-- marginally engaged managers

Advice to Senior Management – encourage employees to take more ownership in the future of the place, and, in turn, show some interest in your employees

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at New York Times

Pros – The New York Times pays well compared to other media companies which is one of the reasons that I was attracted to the company to begin with

Cons – The New York Times is a highly political place to work at. People on the business side are constantly talking behind other peoples backs and engaging in childish games.

Advice to Senior Management – The leadership of the New York Times needs to work on ensuring that all people regardless of their affinities and tribes can get hired and promoted on the business side of the business.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at New York Times

Pros – Great product, brand name and reputation. Looks nice on the resume. Good mix of people - old timers, newspaper vets, new media folks.

Cons – The company has been struggling of late and has instituted far-reaching salary cuts (or furloughs) and layoffs. Job security and career advancement are not guaranteed at this point.

Advice to Senior Management – Be more open and forthcoming - employees should not be kept in the dark about upcoming changes. Be more flexible.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at New York Times

Pros – Reputation and Resume Building and working with very smart people

Cons – Horrible work environment. Unfriendly people. Totally unqualified managers and too many of them. Advancement has NOTHING to do with skill levels or abilities but politics

Advice to Senior Management – um. they would never take advice from anyone

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend