Deplorable Company, Nasty Business
Pros
Busuu is an okay company to start working for. It is capable of recruiting talented individuals, currently has a nice office, offers perks like free snacks and Friday drinks and also organises team outings. However, pay special attention to the first sentence: It is just an okay first job as Cons hugely eclipse Pros. I would advise to apply for a job only if you are in dire economic need and as soon as you get the job offer, keep looking for other better roles and companies. You’ll soon realise what the business is all about.
Cons
Busuu´s issues are summed up below. Please consider them seriously. Career path: They will mention that they can provide you with a career path during the interview but in reality Busuu has an extremely high staff turnover and most employees leave within 2 years. This is due to the low salaries they offer and the rigid corporate structure they have created in the last few years. Once founded, it was easy to progress within the company. Not now, not anymore. 9-6 schedule: To be fair, your actual schedule will depend entirely on your position. Some people work exactly their paid hours and some others... well, they live to work actually, as I used to. In the end you get burnt out and the staff turnover cycle begins. Have I mentioned extra hours are not paid? Unrealistic goals: Busuu excels in setting this kind of targets as they find themselves in economic trouble. Busuu’s leadership team is inspired by Leopold II of Belgium when conquering the Congo in the later XIX century: If Congo citizens didn’t reach their abusive production targets, they got a hand chopped off. Busuu won’t chop off your hand but they will use any deplorable excuse to threaten your job security and squeeze the life out of you in the name of ‘motivation’. Culture: This is just an absolute misinterpretation of the word. Busuu will not help you, will not support you and will not guide you in order to learn or achieve targets. You are paid there to perform like a “feelingless” machine, this is the culture of performance. Forget about values such as integrity, empathy or kindness. Embrace arrogance, passive-aggressiveness and dishonesty. Product: The product is very similar to their competitors but Busuu charges an amusingly expensive price for it. Also, they claim you can become fluent in any language they teach by just using the app 10 minutes a day. Who can really believe that? No profitability: This is the core issue, the reason for the other issues. A company unable to make a single profit after more than 10 years (please refer to UK Companies House) and always claiming a coming fundraise from investors that never comes. Busuu also started reopening their Madrid office as a solution to find cheap labour and reduce losses. Busuu keeps claiming it is an expansion move but you don´t go back to expand your business, you go back as a consequence of biased previsions, lies and failure.
