CreateFuture Reviews

There is a growing feeling across almost every engineer I speak to at xDesign that things are getting worse, the company is losing its focus on people and seems to be focused more on the interests of the exec and pleasing clients. The introduction of ”own your own potential” started well but has left a horrible feeling for many who’ve been told that they’re only “doing” their jobs and not “owning” or “smashing” it. This has made myself and many others feel a bit worthless and only seems to have been added to avoid giving out any adequate pay rises. It also works really well for the kind of people that speak the loudest and are very good at making themselves look like they’re doing a great job with little action and those that actually do the hard work get very little recognition or reward. xDesign have also completely stopped any budget for teams to get together and have in-person away days. As a result (being a remote first company) it’s starting to feel very lonely and all about work work work. I hope this changes. All in all it just feels like they’re focused heavily on growth as fast as they can (presumably so the execs can sell off the company for the best return) whilst neglecting the very people that make it happen.

Where to start? I can only emphasise the previous reviews, especially those mentioning overworking and burnout. The arrogance from senior management is out of this world considering their lack of experience in and knowledge of the tech and product industry. Projects are being sold to clients with unachievable targets for employees and as a result, teams pay the price with unrealistic deadlines and a lot of stress to be able to deliver on time. The worst is that you won’t even receive any recognition for all your hard work and will be left without any support from management. If you dare to point out that your work and personal life are suffering from the pressure, you will get ignored and alienated from the company. I saw the comment “progressive” workplace…Where does this come from? Certainly not what I experienced. I realise now that I wasn’t the first to suffer from the poor conditions at this workplace and it appears from looking at comments below that I won’t be the last one either… Their hiring practices were also questionable - borderline unethical! You and your peers will assess a candidate individually for 30 min or so to have a casual chat about work. The next day, you and your peers will be asked to attend a meeting and on a count of three, vote “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” and explain your vote. The worst is that straight after this you’ll be asked to vote for a second round, allowing people to change their minds based on the bias of others! I didn’t find this to be “progressive”. Where is the impartiality in this process? If you dare to question this practice, you’ll be asked to propose a better idea in a passive aggressive way. No I am not a human resource specialist but I will dare to speak up when I witness and am forced to participate in such bad practices! I suffered from confidence and trust issues following my time with xDesign, making it a real challenge to join a new workplace. Do yourself a favour: work somewhere else where you’ll be appreciated for who you are, your skills and your hard work.