Don't Work Here, Not Even If You're Desperate - Former Employee Ripley PR Employee Review

This workplace preys on desperation. Maybe you've been laid off, or you're moving from another state, or you're just out of college. You really need a job, so you don't ask too many questions. Ask the questions. This is a bad place to work. *I worked here for a year an a half. I saw 10 people quit or get fired in that time. That is an unacceptable turnover rate. Look at this company's social media. You will see completely different faces year to year. *The people who did quit, many of them suffered stress-induced health problems before they left, including ulcers, clinical depression and anxiety. *Many of the people who "quit" were really "managed out." Their goals were set higher and higher, the goalposts kept changing, and finally they were given a bad review and pressured to leave. *The CEO once bragged to employees about a place she used to work where all the salespeople kept Xanax in their desks. She said it like that was a good thing. *No one talks in this office. It is frowned upon to speak in person with your co-workers. There is no collaboration, and everyone is afraid that others will rat them out. *Micromanagement is ridiculous here. You have to account for your time in 15 minute increments, and if you have too much non-billable time (no one really knows how much is too much), you get called on the carpet. *Employees are not given enough time to create good deliverables for the clients. If we went over the time allotted, we had to record it as non-billable time under "Mistakes." And as said above, you are penalized for too much non-billable time. Those time limits include: 1 hour to research and write a press release, .75 hours to develop a media list, 1.5 hours to research and write a blog, 1.5 hours for a month's worth of social media posts across four platforms. There is no room in here for creativity or quality work. *Ownership and some management treats employees like children, talking down to them and micromanaging them regardless of years of industry experience. *This company pays female employees much less than male employees and does not promote women to real leadership, which is weird for a female-owned company. *This company will not hire you if they know you have children. If you manage to get around that, expect to have zero flexibility to care for your family. I could go on. I saw so many people leave this place under bad circumstances. This is not a good place. This is a content mill, as close to sweatshop conditions as you will see in this industry. The ownership is toxic at best, abusive at worst. Take my advice and stay away.