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Busuu

Acquired by Chegg

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Toxic and Directionless CEO Means The Company Lacks Focus - Manager Busuu Employee Review

2.0
May 26, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Great, lovely people generally who bring personality and a good attitude to work. Some real superstars here. People genuinely help each other out - Really interesting, hands on product. I, and many others, feel like there's a lot of potential if the company had real leadership (the CEO is not the right person to take us forwards) - A lot of autonomy, ownership and chance to make a real impact for millions of language learners - Relatively transparent company, regular surveys each quarter which are somewhat listened to

Cons

- Toxic, micromanaging CEO whose idea of "strategy" is some unreasonable revenue targets and random "urgent" tasks, rather than direction, prioritisation, focus and sound strategy. Result is an overstressed and unfocused, but well meaning company which underperforms - "Priorities" that seems to change every 2-4 months causing significant problems and lack of focus for the company - Pays under market rate (but acceptable) yet expects superstar performers (of which there are a few!) - Retention of employees is quite poor (people generally stay under 2 years) or a randomly fired with next to no notice for them or their team

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Busuu Response
3y
Thank you for sharing your feedback. We are glad that you feel we have a great team of colleagues and an interesting product. It is great that you had autonomy and the opportunity to make an impact and empower our language learners. As a mission driven company, this is very important to us. Our salaries are regularly reviewed and are very competitive within the EdTech sector. We also offer yearly pay reviews and several opportunities within the year for promotions and career progression which is highly encouraged. Busuu has constantly been evolving and changing during the last 14 years and now we are thrilled at being a part of Chegg which will accelerate our growth trajectory and ensure we have the tools to become the best language learning platform in the market. Admittedly this does mean that we may sometimes have to realign our business priorities and this is a challenge for every business in todays competitive market, however we are always very transparent about the decisions taken and the bigger picture. We have a below average rate for attrition which we are very proud of and we have been very honoured to welcome back past colleagues who want to be part of our mission to empower people through languages. Thanks again for taking the time to write your review, we really appreciate it.

Explore other reviews about Busuu

5.0
Jul 11, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great team, product and workflow. Awesome benefits as well

Cons

Really none at all. I can’t think of anything that stands out.

3.0
Mar 27, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- The new management is very nice and understanding. - I've noticed that even when I provide all the necessary information when canceling a lesson, they still have to repeat steps, likely due to company policy. - The only reason I stay is because I absolutely love my students. - It can be challenging to find a job without a degree in the TEFL industry

Cons

-Asked for a raise, completely ignored me. -Very difficult to cancel lessons. -Don't know how well you're doing as a teacher so you're in constant "competition" with other teachers to keep your position. -I've heard that they can fire you without any notice or reason. -Changed policy that you can only do 25 hours per week

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