IDG Reviews

I worked at IDG

Pros – Nice benefits, they care about work-life balance. They do a nice job of letting the individual business units set their own direction.

Cons – They may pay a little less than some companies, but make up for this a bit in quality benefits. They've been around a long time, so they are sometimes slower than a start-up to pursue new opportunities.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep putting the people first - you've done that in the past and it's served you well. Keep taking chances on new business opportunities even if some of them bomb, because it's the only way to avoid stagnation, and some will be winners.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at IDG

Pros – Relaxed atmosphere, autonomy, great staff

Cons – Human Resources sucked. Upper management changed alot near the end of my tenure

Advice to Senior Management – Relax

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at IDG

Pros – Everyone is very proud of the magazine. And there's a huge enthusiasm for the industry, in particular for Apple and Apple's products, that permeates every aspect of the job. They're also very flexible about working from home - many employees telecommute part-time. And the perks of working for an IDG subsidiary include an excellent benefits package, including same-sex partner benefits, great health care coverage and a good 401K program.

Cons – At some point in the past the company merged accounting and general operations with PCWorld, and it's the PCWorld side of the fence that now manages the business. Their attitude towards Macworld is often dismissive and condescending, and the senior management seems to view quality content as a commodity product. A lot of editorial and sales functions have been sidelined with really onerous data management tasks that should be handled by a more transparent and simpler input workflow which simply doesn't exist.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop letting data management get in the way of letting people do their jobs. As important as measurable metrics are, they shouldn't replace sales people talking to advertisers and editorial people writing quality content.

I worked at IDG

Pros – Independent minded culture is appreciated by most employees

Cons – Lack of direction from mid-senior management

Advice to Senior Management – Offer more opportunity for advancement

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at IDG

Pros – They had a great Pay structure, and a pretty goog benefits program. They alos provided a formal s, Recognition program.

Cons – They used to have a really good profit sharing program and then whenthe economy started to get bad they froze it and then after a few more years they cancelled it

Advice to Senior Management – More training and mentorship would really make IDG an even better lpace to work. Also we always seemed short staffed.

I have been working at IDG

Pros – excellent room for growth, mutual respect, great company culture

Cons – too many layoffs recently, just unfair

Advice to Senior Management – they do an excellent job. excellent

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at IDG

Pros – The company offers many areas of development and growth for motivated and forward thinking employee. Great benefits.

Cons – Changes in organizational structure are often, curtailing focus and ability to achieve consistency in individual responsibilities. The nature of the industry calls for such constant evolution.

Advice to Senior Management – There should be more consideration given to the quality of work that employees provide for the company prior to making heavy decisions about structure and cuts.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at IDG

Pros – Management promotes a strong work life balance. Working from home due to illness, leaving for a doctor's appointment and working around family issues is never a problem. Co-workers are very nice and incredibly friendly. My division's small staff count does make it feel like we're more than just colleagues. The overall attitude is pretty laid back. We don't have a corporate ethos of conformity. Managers are willing to hear feedback on their policies and will sometimes alter those policies based on the feedback. There is a sense that we're trying to do the best we can with the limited budget that accompanies working in journalism. The company is decentralized, which is a polite way of saying siloed. This makes communication between divisions difficult. Decentralization has been a corporate mantra since inception and shows no sign of changing.

Cons – The small feel of the company makes it seem more like a minor media company instead of a big player. Relocation payments and cost of living raises for moves aren't heard of or are paltry. Cost of living raises also don't exist. Expect a 2% to 3% raise. Sometimes the work from home policy can be a bit too relaxed. Pet issues and trains issues are sometimes cited as reasons for working from home. I doubt other industries would be as tolerant. Job advancement is nonexistent in my division. Salaries are also pretty low and make getting by difficult. There is no obvious career advancement track so you're stuck with the job that you were hired to perform. The employee stock ownership program is arcane. Some at the company have yet to realize that the Internet is publishing's future. They still cling to print and management hasn't really addressed these Luddites.

Advice to Senior Management – We need a career advancement program. People can't be allowed to perform the same job for several years without an opportunity for promotion.

I worked at IDG

Pros – IDG has an entrepreneurial culture and a collegial atmosphere. Hard work is rewarded and there are many opportunities to try new things, learn about different parts of the business.

Cons – Since the business units themselves are small, sometimes there is a limit to the scale of any particular position.

Advice to Senior Management – Encourage more experimentation with new forms of publishing and business models.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at IDG

Pros – If you are a young or up-and-coming journalist (especially tech journalist) looking to get something good on your resume, IDG is a place to consider. The benefits are quite good, and the Big Boss sincerely wants to create a great long-term environment for employees.

Cons – If you are in editorial, you may have a hard time advancing, and you may be low-balled at the entry point. I was grossly underpaid (in one of the most expensive U.S. cities) and was not granted a raise, even after achieving high performance marks. I worked on a small, but very successful, magazine which was top heavy with long-timers who were making a career at IDG, so there was no real room for advancement. Almost all of IDG will continue to be squeezed, so opportunities for advancement -- coupled with the career-oriented nature of the place -- will continue to make advancement difficult for new employees. Like many publishing jobs, you may only wish to stay here for two years.

Advice to Senior Management – You need to understand your online presence -- and quickly. You have an untapped community of consumers who look to your online site for authentic, unpretentious advice, but you lose them with their first visit to your Web site(s). Your print versions will slowly die, so you must begin to incorporate social media practices. You're behind the curve and need to make your editorial presence much more authentic, genuine, and consumer-oriented.