Refinery29 reviews

3.1

40% would recommend to a friend

(191 total reviews)

Philippe von Borries

35% approve of CEO

18% positive business outlook

Refinery29 has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 191 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Refinery29 employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Mídia e comunicação industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

191 reviews
1.0
Sep 22, 2017
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Happy hours and team activities; teams get really close.

Cons

Horrible management from top to bottom. They prefer anyone who's a "cool," pretty "influencer" over people who are actually smart and good at their jobs. (This is what I witnessed over my 2+ year tenure there and has nothing to do with my departure.) This will be their downfall. It's laughable that they preach everything about "looks not mattering," but that's the exact opposite of what they practice at the office. Anyone who's not cool, trendy, conventionally attractive or unique-looking in a profitable way will be overlooked. They've also gone through several rounds of top-secret layoffs and "restructuring." Tons of managers are incompetent and got to where they are based on their looks/outfits.

1.0
Dec 12, 2016

Disappointing Experience

Anonymous employee
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Free food, beauty products, fun events, some cool people.

Cons

Extremely disorganized without a clear mission. I thought it would be more pro-women and supportive, but it's actually cut-throat and has a "mean girls" culture. It feels like most people leave after less than a year because it's not worth the stress. I used to be a fan, but the company does not reflect what the writing is all about.

1.0
Jun 19, 2016

Executives totally clueless and competing KPIs

Anonymous employee
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Young and fun company, lots of emphasis on individuality.

Cons

Executives don't know what they are doing, they don't stand up for the best decision just react to whatever the next big emergency/sale is. Goals are competing - one team has to optimize for X and the other team has to optimize for Y, which is completely antithetical to X. No advice or clarity as to which priority is more important, didn't seem to understand how this creates unnecessary friction.

Viewing 22 - 24 of 191 Reviews

Glassdoor has 283 Refinery29 reviews submitted anonymously by Refinery29 employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Refinery29 is right for you.