Primrock Reviews

It is hard to fathom where to start when reviewing the disastrous workplace called Primrock. Everyone working here will, to some degree, develop a trauma. I will try my best to structure the problems into three categories: management practices, office location, and operational execution. 1. Management Practices The management at Primrock consists of a duo that is difficult to describe in words. Firstly, they see every new employee as inferior to themselves. Every day, they make an effort to imprint this belief onto their employees. This manifests both subtly and explicitly. The subtle ways include rude comments; the explicit ways include calling you stupid, saying your work is completely trash, and telling you that you are utterly useless. If you try to engage in a constructive dialogue about how to improve the so-called "trash work," they will either slam the door in your face or simply say, "Do it better," without further instructions. This management practice is certainly effective in one way—it makes you feel despondent and removes all incentives to do more than the bare minimum. Secondly, they engage in micromanagement at a level I have never heard of before. Every email, whether internal or external, must be cc’d to the duo. They want access to every document you work on—Word documents, Excel files, PowerPoints—and they monitor what you are doing in real time, every single day. This quite literally creates the feeling that they are constantly looking over your shoulder. At the end of each day, you must submit a detailed email reporting your work, half a page long, with descriptions and attached Word and Excel files. Every single day. They compare your results to their expectations, and if they do not match up, you will have a serious talk with one of them. Each month you also have to submit your time report accounted to the last minute. Furthermore, the workday is beteende 8-17, not a minute earlier or later. If you are five minutes late one morning, they will start calling you and say you need to hurry up. This brings me to my third point: fear-based management. Since they see themselves as superior humans, they do not tolerate any form of criticism or constructive dialogue from what they perceive as "inferior humans." They make it implicitly clear that any resistance or criticism will get you fired (which has happened multiple times). This completely strips you of your self-esteem, leaving you sitting at the office with your shoulders hunched by your ears while they slam doors and shout daily. Fourthly, they frequently use false promises to motivate new employees. These promises are verbal and include pay raises on specific dates and relocation to a central office (which I will discuss later). When these promises go unfulfilled and you bring them up, they simply deny ever making them. However, they are careful. If you try to discuss the matter via email, they use extremely careful wording to avoid incriminating themselves. Fifthly, you must always work from the office—no exceptions. If you need to work from home due to sickness, you must apply and get approval from both founders. 2. Office Location The office is located deep in the countryside, with no transportation options except for a subway station that is a 20-minute walk away. This means you are completely isolated from friends or any errands you might need to run during the day. I worked there for many months and never once had the opportunity to have lunch in the city with friends. For example, the travel time to T-C from the office is about 30 minutes. If you want to have a one-hour lunch, it will take at least two hours to get there and back. Since the duo has a pathological need for control, lunch breaks cannot be a minute longer than one hour. Otherwise, you will receive a threatening email from them. Furthermore, the office is located in a very old and neglected building which used to be a hunting cabin. The interior of the building is completely sterile. The walls are paper-thin, so you can hear everything people are saying. From the duo’s office, this often includes them sitting inside, talking trash about you while you are just outside their door. 3. Operational Execution The leading duo is, without question, the most incompetent people in managerial positions I have ever met. There is no trace of structure within the company at any level. Often, you find yourself without tasks or even an understanding of what the company is currently doing. The overwhelming majority of the submitted work will never be used or even looked at. The duo constantly changes tasks, sometimes multiple times per day. It is incredibly chaotic for everyone—even seasoned employees with decades of experience are completely confused about what to do. There is only a focus on small, insignificant details. For example, deciding which font to use in a PowerPoint presentation can take days. There is no big picture or vision. If you find yourself without tasks and take your own initiative, they will immediately scold you for it. The result is that most employees sit in the office without tasks, twiddling their thumbs all day. Conclusion This combination of factors creates a perfect storm of chaos. You will feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day every morning when you wake up. Everyone makes mistakes in their career at some point and steps on a mine. This, however, is the Tsar Bomba of workplaces.