Absolutely toxic environment - Anonymous employee PLOS Employee Review

1.0
Mar 30, 2013
Anonymous employee
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Workers start out enthusiastic about science and open access Decent benefits

Cons

Department managers would rather have public fights with other department managers or contractors that belong on a school ground than behave professionally. Management is either completely unavailable or micro-managing. Backstabbing by management is a constant. This behavior pits middle management and staff against each other. Even though you're officially on a "team", there is no teamwork, and most employees are out for themselves at the expense of others. If you have allies senior to you, you can literally get away with anything. If you have no allies or step out of line, you may as well start looking for another job. Pay is about 20k less than average for the same position at another company, unless you're in upper management or an executive, in which case you're making six figures. Pathetic raises; you work long hard hours to be able to go out to a modest dinner once more per pay period, if you receive the maximum raise.

Explore other reviews about PLOS

5.0
Nov 26, 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Ambitious and idealistic, so plenty of opportunities to contribute creatively.

Cons

Ambitions are sometimes too high.

avatar
PLOS Response
5mo
Hello- thank you very much for taking the time to write your review. We read and appreciate each one. I think your comment on ambitions is very interesting and I'll be sharing with leadership. Take care!
4.0
Nov 23, 2025
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Co-workers are great and hard working.

Cons

Opportunities for career advancement is limited on some teams.

avatar
PLOS Response
5mo
Thanks so much for your review. We appreciate your time and thoughtful feedback. We are currently working on career advancement initiatives and believe this should be a core focus as we go into 2026 and beyond.
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