Purports to benefit employee, when really only serving employer - Anonymous employee Crossover for Work Employee Review

1.0
26 Sept 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Supposed freedom to work when/how one wants - but you are expected to work 40+ hours and be available at specific times set by management Above market pay (not really because they misclassify you as an independent contractor and you pay your own taxes and health benefits - which is illegal in the US - you can't be treated as an employee and classified as an IC)

Cons

Spy software that is mandatory to be installed on your own personal computer to track everything you do - you think you can turn it on/off - you can't - it is always on If you disagree with the CEO you will be fired This company DOES NOT care about you - when you first start working there you think it is great - you will sooner or later find out the truth

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Crossover for Work Response
9y
Thanks for your review and we're sorry that your experience with us did not match our intention to make Crossover the best global work environment. We are, indeed, aiming towards 40 hours/week contracts, rather than freelance collaborations, as this model has proven successful for both the contractors we've been working with and our company and it has helped us develop together. There is a lot of flexibility in the distribution of the 40 hours, however it is important to be available for meetings with the people you work with - this is key in a remote organization. WorkSmart is by no means intended to be a spy software; it is an awesome productivity tool that gives contractors valuable information on how they can spend their time better and become more effective. Contractors have full control to stop it at any time or permanently delete any data stored. We clearly need to do a better job with our communication about the WorkSmart, so thank you for bringing that up.

Explore other reviews about Crossover for Work

5.0
24 Jul 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Remote work ability was nice!

Cons

Some shifts were rigid for emoloyees

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Crossover for Work Response
10mo
Hey, thanks for the stellar review!
2.0
30 Jul 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Crossover does require work from home. For many, this is a good thing and, for me, helped productivity. The salary is good, but depending upon your country's tax situation it might not be as good as it seems on the surface.

Cons

Where do I start? I tried to be objective with my 2-star rating; Crossover isn't unethical or stealing from their employees or anything like that. However, for a seasoned professional, be warned... I joined in one of the Very High Dollar executive-level positions being driven by their desire to acquire 50+ companies in the near term. I'm in the US. As such (and I knew this going in), the tax consequences for being a contractor are non-trivial. There's also the consideration that you must fund any perks yourself - healthcare, retirement, etc. While the salary is generous enough to do that, it's not as shiny as it seems on the surface. Your mileage may vary depending upon your home country. What I really disliked: Constant tracking/ justification of work stream. Seriously. As others have pointed out, it's difficult to actually *get* credit for a full work week without working extra. Especially in some of the higher-level, more 'creative' positions such as architect, product management, etc. there's minimal or no opportunity to review or think over things. For me, I work in bursts followed by small distractions in which I'm running the problems in the background of my thoughts. A variety of coworkers and management in my history have almost universally commented about the volume of good work I produce. Even my peers at Crossover had no problem with the quantity or quality of my production. However, their tracking software and systems simply don't credit anything other than linear, constant "work". This was bad for me, resulting in me working extra, reworking things as I attempting to change my processes, "faking" it, or simply working longer to attempt to make my hours. I also felt bad for some of the more junior or "factory" positions. It really is tracked by the minute, with lots of incentive to find "problems" with productivity. This is really a thinly-veiled method of wringing blood out of a turnip, by finding flaws or gaps and essentially docking pay. Yeah, the salaries are good but the amount of ancillary work that goes into making "real" hours is awful, and I felt like a chump contributing to it. I had to quit for my sanity.

1585
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Crossover for Work Response
6y
We appreciate your review. Our wages are paid in USD, so it's not going to be as competitive in high tech markets like San Francisco or Boston in the United States where software development is ultra-competitive. However, wages for the same jobs are very competitive in other US cities and outside the US. Sometimes these wages can be 5-6x the local average. Our business model is unique and isn't for everyone. We aren't trying to be like everyone else. The future of work is being redefined. We pride ourselves in being a pioneer in this new paradigm. If you want to know more about this work model, you can read about it here: https://medium.com/@crossoverforwork/the-factory-model-enabling-massive-scale-across-business-functions-98b18ad574f8
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