Gannett Reviews

Pros

Lots of job movement within Gannett
Willing to let employees try new things
Good benefits

Cons

Pay at Gannett is generally loser than most national news organizations.
Not as respected within the industry as it should be.

Pros

Pay was actually quite good for this area.
Immediate managers were, for the most part, great to work for.
Very liberal vacation plan.

Cons

Still a good place to work if you're into digital sales. I was in a support role for my 14 yrs and all those positions started getting outsourced to other Gannett properties about 3 yrs ago.

Advice to Senior Management

If you know something is about to go down it serves no one to keep it a secret. Everyone knows it's just a matter of time so don't go walking around with your head down.

Pros

The station is well respected within the television industry.

Cons

Things are in a constant state of flux and leadership is very poor.

Pros

A little bit of room for advancement - depends on situation and worksite.

Cons

furloughs; pay freezes; layoffs; lack of communication from the top down; not much accountability; people who didn't do their work right or on time typically weren't confronted; too much work dumped on thinned-out staff, while the bigwigs got big bonuses; "big" ideas being dreamed up without specifics on how they'll work, resulting in confusion and in-fighting

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate openly with employees on a regular basis; don't play favorites; acknowledge the hard work being done by the ragged few who are left

Pros

The pay and benefits are OK if you are working in a small market.

Cons

The company's strategic direction is failing.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your employees with an honest, open mind.

Pros

Gannett is a very family-friendly environment. With an ever-changing work atmosphere, there was never a shortage of opportunity to grow either within one's own department or by moving to another.

Cons

Gannett's Board of Directors has given millions of dollars to outgoing CEO Craig Dubow and incoming CEO Gracia Martore. The selfishness of these leaders of industry will send Gannett into oblivion. They spent millions developing digital properties, only to wash their hands of them within a few years leaving hundreds of dedicated employees without jobs (and a severance package equivalent to a miserable one week per year of service).

Advice to Senior Management

Get a new board of directors that cares more about employees than throwing away millions in profits on the CEO.

Pros

Great benefits with possible opportunity of advancement

Cons

Not very loyal and back stabbing. Favorites were often given preferential treatment

Advice to Senior Management

Stop looking out for just yourselves

Pros

Benefits were decent and the sales staff less management were a great group of people. Some of them became very good life long friends.

Cons

Management is out of touch with what is happening on the street. They'd ask for input, but completely ignore it. All focus was on increasing revenue at any cost, irregardless of who or how it effected the working relationship you had with your clients. If you said something in confidence to your manager, it was talked about behind closed doors with their manager. Became a very difficult place to work. Was forced into taking furloughs. Very much the good ole girl network (at least at my site).

Advice to Senior Management

Learn the difference between hearing and listening and start listening to your employees out on the street selling. They are the ones who will make or break you.

Pros

They have company matching for 401K. After 3 years of work, your vested. Good health insurance.

Cons

No understanding among management of the needs of working mothers. Not flexible in the least bit with the hours you can work. Over worked and under paid. Unrealistic deadline expectations among management who do not know the first thing about what you do. Designers are not managed by an art director but by advertising managers. Designers handle multiple departments and are harassed by sales people all day to the point where you can not get your work done. it is common for designers to work over 9 hours a day with no real brake and eating lunch at your desk to get the job done.

Pros

Sense of family; true professionals

Cons

Management isn't always on par; loss of purpose