Institute For Humane Studies Reviews

This place is a walking contradiction! It's a libertarian education org that's run like a propaganda ministry in 1980s Eastern Europe. Everything the other reviews say about the awful work culture is true - and worse than that. It's all rigidly, rigidly a top-down organization. The worst types absolutely rise up to the very top and stay in the bureaucracy forever even when they can't manage people. They spend Charles Koch's money like it's going out of style. But a LOT of wastefulness and a humongous bloated staff of admin types. They go through unnanounced mass firings a couple times a year. Entire teams get laid off without warning (especially stay clear of anything that has anything to do with marketing - that one gets cleaned out over and over and over). The firings are handled like purges too and nobody's supposed to talk about them after they happen. You'll show up at work one day and 2 or 3 colleagues you just had lunch with the day before are gone - cleared out - not to be talked about anymore. No reasons are given...i take that back...no honest reasons are ever given. The Leadership is the root of the problem. They think they're master communicators to their own staff. But nobody else does. They hold these all-staff meetings to pitch things to regular staff where they give these long rehearsed power point shows about the leadership's "strategic plan." But it's all fake - it's like they're doing a Sham-Wow commercial to convince their very own staff that they're not working for Sham-Wow. And nobody on staff believes it because it's all such fakery! The culture of fear is everywhere in this office. Fear that you're going to be marginalized. Fear that your team is going to be split up on a whim. Fear that your friends are going to get laid off. Or that they quit suddenly. Fear that your job won't even be there tomorrow because somebody on top decided to 'change directions'. Fear that you're gonna get blamed for somebody else's screw ups - and then fired. Fear that because you said something negative about how they run things it's gonna paint a target on your back. If you want a workplace where you can be happy and feel like you're making a difference for liberty this one is gonna come across strong on paper. But the Soviet Union's cenral planning bureaus also looked strong on paper.

Where to begin…IHS is a cool place, ostensibly. It has an honorable mission, it’s programs and summer seminars are well attended, and people have a pretty positive opinion of them externally. However, working there is a completely different story. The office environment is a nightmare. There’s a certain type of person who does well there, so if you’re that person you’ll love it. The worst definitely get on top. Competent people need not apply. Thus, middle and upper management is a bust. They don’t have a clue what’s going on, and I was never sure what half of them did all day. They absolutely don’t know how to organize or lead, and it’s very clear they’re making it up as they go with little concern for how it affects their employees. A lot of middle managers are untouchable no matter how blatantly useless they are. There is absolutely a hierarchy. If you’re at the assistant level, expect to be treated poorly while doing most of the work. The culture is pretty much on par with high school – it’s cliquey, gossipy, and sexist. You’ll be critiqued on yourself as a person far more than on your work. Management took accountability for nothing, and lower level employees are often blamed for mistakes. Standards are applied arbitrarily, as are promotions. Pay is abysmal, even for non-profit standards. They will absolutely low-ball you, so be careful before accepting an offer. Given its many deep-seeded issues, IHS has very high turnover. You’ll either get pushed out or quit, good luck making it more than a year. They fire people like it’s their job, and sometimes they’ll fire entire teams at once (no warning). I’ve lost track of how many friends of mine have left or been fired. I made an effort, I wanted to make it work. I was very vocal about the issues I encountered, but not only did bringing it up not help, it worked against me. If you see a problem, keep your mouth shut because vocalizing your concerns will blacklist you. Once you leave IHS you'll basically have to go through recovery, and many former employees joke about being in a post-IHS support group. Bottom line is I deserved better and so do you.