Cold, uncaring management, no collaboration between departments, every man for himself mentality, work life balance non-existent, ridiculous low-ball salaries, no incentives for innovation, toxic work environment, ignorance regarding typical creative industry practices, non-caring attitude towards employee morale
Bioworld is a prime example of a company that started small, quickly became profitable, but evolved only in size and revenue and nowhere else. There is next to nothing progressive or forward thinking about this place. I stayed way too long because I loved the licenses I worked with and thought I could truly be a valuable contributor to the company, but after almost a decade of service I have nothing to show for it except a portfolio of my own creation and the feeling I should have invested my time elsewhere. They are vampires because they will literally suck the life out of you and when they’ve drained you dry they will simply hire a a cheap newbie to take your place. Of course this applies to everyone EXCEPT upper management, which is why nothing ever changes for the better because the captains of the ship always stay the same. Some of these captains I might add, started working with Bioworld right out of college and are STILL THERE 20+ years later… with no industry experience whatsoever, yet they hold extremely important positions within the company. In the creative industry this is completely asinine as it is common to bring in new talent every 3-5 years for roles such as these to prevent stagnation and gain fresh insight.
Know that if you work for Bioworld you will be nothing more than a set of hands and your key role will be to research your competitors and basically copy what they are doing for next year’s production calendar. Got some new ideas you think are worth pursuing? DON’T BOTHER. They claim to have their finger on the pulse of the industry and to really value creative input from their employees but in reality they provide no incentives for you to bring anything new to the table and if you do, you will often be ignored and sometimes reprimanded for being off task. Any efforts to go above and beyond will not be noticed or rewarded but any mistakes you make will be highlighted and addressed.
Length of tenure and devotion to the company also has no bearing on how valuable you are viewed as an employee as your status will be the same as the new hire right next to you. I have seen people with years of service be let go by Bioworld with little more than a bat of an eye. These employees were denied severance, unemployment, and commissions. This company is petty, and will fight tooth and nail to not have to pay, even to the point of lawsuits.
Managers are often promoted from within, no doubt because that way they can keep from paying according to industry standards by offering a measly wage increase to someone often already underpaid, and won’t have to train someone new who will no doubt expect a fair salary. Sadly, no consideration is taken to ensure the creative directors are fit to properly motivate and lead their teams as promotions are based on reliability and productivity and NOT character, so there is often mistrust, toxic leadership, having employees spy on each other, and a lack of consideration when it comes to work/life balance. They used to have a dual-review process once a year where employees would review their directors and vice-versa but they did away with that years ago. So in reality how does upper management ever really know how well their leaders are performing and more importantly how well they are treating their employees?
People with families are expected to have no lives outside of work and if you happen to need support or understanding you will be judged and penalized (albeit covertly).
People with disabilities, neurodivergent, etc. take note. You will not be accommodated and your best bet will be to keep your disability a secret. HR WILL NOT HELP YOU.
Take my advice and DO NOT WORK for Bioworld. If you think I’m just a disgruntled ex-employee then notice how they are literally ALWAYS HIRING. If that’s not a red flag, then what is?
