|
private:fairphone
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1474059
|
Dec 22nd, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Fairphone
|
|
Netherlands
|
NLD
|
Really bad experience/employer
|
|
location, next to Amsterdam central station
|
A bunch of unprofessionals that joined forces behind the social mission the company states. Ultimate chaos, anarchy, people running left and right like chickens without a head trying to run a company, The victims out of this are the few employees with potentials who get overworked, undermined, underpaid and in return for their efforts being told they are not good enough. Turn over of people is very high, saying enough about the company itself. The best that could happen to this company and only in relation to its mission, is to get acquired by a real well established company and "recycle" everything and everyone coming with it. This company is a huge joke.
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
|
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
|
1474059
|
Open
|
Resign and go home
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Fairphone
|
Telecommunications
|
Mobile Telecommunications
|
|
private:fairphone
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1474059
|
Feb 4th, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Fairphone
|
CHRO
|
Amsterdam
|
|
Great mission, growing firm
|
|
Fairphone is a great company to work for with numerous sustainability awards. The team excels in knowledge about sustainable supply chains (e.g. mining conditions, fair labor standards, product requirements). Thus, a great place if you're interested in the circular economy and/or general sustainable practices.
Additionally, Fairphone throws amazing parties that are worthy of a Dutch scale-up.
|
Fairphone is a scale-up, which means that there is quite a bit of uncertainty around what will happen in the next year. It is also a smartphone firm, which relies heavily on the launch of one key product. Some basic systems that would be available in large firms are not.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
|
|
0.0
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
5.0
|
3.0
|
4.0
|
4.0
|
|
1474059
|
Open
|
Keep improving day-to-day, keep the people with you.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Fairphone
|
Telecommunications
|
Mobile Telecommunications
|
|
private:fairphone
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1474059
|
Jan 25th, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Fairphone
|
|
Netherlands
|
NLD
|
Fairphone, the company that does not care about people
|
|
Nice view.
Value driven minded employees.
|
It's sad that Fairphone claims it care about people and sell goodworking condition in China and in the mines, do not look at itself first.
Fairphone may be good for the planet, I wont say so for people.
The company wants itself to be seen as what it sells to the public : a value driven company, thought leader. game-changing and positive.
By not wanting a "negative culture" they , closing their eyes on actual problems, they created that negative, dangerous, culture.
Let's have a closer look at the values : transparency, creativity, collaboration, optimism and change.
OPTIMISM and CHANGE
The turnover is absolutely crazy. From a picture taken summer 2018, I counted at leas 25 persons not in anymore (on a 65 people company at that time).
When some companies have in their yearly KPI to have 5% turnover, Fairphone, seems it has not understood the value of people - or call them human ressource is it makes more sense.
So if you entered the company, yes, you'll see smiling people, it's because they are new and not frustrated yet, because like many of us they are proud to work for such a world-changing purpose.
Older have left, disillusioned, frustrated ,sick, fired (sneakily pushed to the exit door with unfair ultimatum or pushed to the exit with no official reason ...). These people are regarded as plague-ridden by the apostle of radical-optimism instead of wondering what's wrong in the copmany, trying to help and find a company solution.
Team's are under-staffed, under-skilled, under-managed.
Most employees would work lie crazy for this company and eventually, not getting any appreciation, no pay raise, see their job outsourced.
They'll have t abide by stupid request from their manager, making them alienated.
The only answer "negative mindset people" (I mean, people in distress) get is "it's a personal problem between you and your manager" or "there's nothing we can do, you'd better resign", making them feeling even more like failure.
Many former employees needs therapist to convince themselves they are not such a failure but the company's management is faulty.
@Fairphone : yoga, bootcamp, fruits are not gonna solve management issues, instead manage your employees expectations, set clear roles and responsabilties (consultants included), admit when a manager is not good...
And the worse, is that when some teams look like they are doing better than others, instead of taking it as an example, MT founds it suspicious : maybe this team has not enough pressure, its people are not drained according to Fairphone’s norm, maybe it should be scaled down.
A happy team is not the norm, not even a target. Work hard, cry hard, resign, be replaced by a cheap one! The only equity at Fairphone is the level of stress and understaffing the team should have.
Wait !What ? There is no equity in salary at Fairphone (FAIR-phone) ?
Most employees are underpaid (For FP HR management : you should be aware that paying the Dutch minimum wage when you live in Amsterdam is a joke). When people started to complain they set up a salary grid, but never applied it. 2 people with the same position at Fairphone can have huge salary difference, and usually salaries are 20% under the market.
COLLABORATION and CREATIVITY
Don't think you're gonna join an innovative tech company.
They have absolutely no ownership on product design, outsourced to a consultancy company that is blindly trusted by a management team that has no tech literacy and that does not trust and empower its own employees.
If the consultant was in line with the company's value and wanted to help the company employees growing in their role, that would not be a problem. We all need to learn from experienced people right? It's great to have someone who knows about the industry. But it never cross the mind of MT or HR-that the company employees skills set should have been a priority. Instead they outsourced everything that is too cumbersome for them although employees are always remember to do their best to save costs.
Unfortunately, he's not really value but money/business driven (I mean its own business, not Fairphone's one) and, by preventing Fairphone's employee accessing Fairphone 3 project information, by preventing key actors to communicate and to work together, by piting managers against employee, he managed to get every one around in a burnout or resigning.
Which is smart of him : the company now can only rely on his EXTREMELY expensive services.
TRANSPARENCY
Reorganizations... when the company decides to restructure : it takes month, there's no sustainable strategy and lower layers of management are not consulted (not even talking about hands-on employees).
Some people are asked to leave for no reason while some other (especially external MT/consultant friends) are given a role with no reason, no explanations...
I wish Fairphone could change, I wished Fairphone could have been a modern and empowering company that trust its own employees to highlight issues and solve problem, I wished that so long but I don't believe in it anymore.
The company will survive for sure, there's always young motivated underpaid people who would want to work for it. The atmosphere in some team, I believe, is very pleasant and fun, so you can always take a -burnout- chance, and see how you live it.
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
|
|
4.0
|
1.0
|
2.0
|
2.0
|
2.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
|
1474059
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Fairphone
|
Telecommunications
|
Mobile Telecommunications
|
|
private:fairphone
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1474059
|
Nov 20th, 2019 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Fairphone
|
|
Netherlands
|
NLD
|
Thoroughly chaotic and exhausting
|
|
The mission attracts very motivated people with great energy and a high level of commitment, there is a great community of people behind the company and the values make you think it's a movement worth getting behind of. Most of the team and the passion they put into their work will keep you motivated. If you do your job and have a sensible manager, it's likely you can stay focused and have the opportunity to grow and learn.
|
Pressure of growing and operating in an industry that in average has regularly short product cycles puts a lot of strain in the company's values and sometimes decisions are made in a very top-bottom way by people who are not in touch with what happens "on the ground", which would be fine if there was transparency, the right processes were in place, top management was solid, and there was trust in their judgement. However, leadership positions seemed to constantly be filled by people that lack empathy or knowledge about either their role or the sector (with teams being left to fill the knowledge and leadership gaps). There are power struggles that should not be happening in a company that size which affect decision-making processes, accountability and everyday work. There is little regard for personal development and not enough encouragement by most line managers to follow through on personal development plans because the company has a real problem with keeping team capacity and project scope at healthy levels (as if nobody has heard of or cares about something called "scope creep"). On the other hand, there is also not enough discouragement to keep the work-life balance from going all over the place and, at least in my experience, it was normal to receive emails in the evening or while on holiday (to which somebody would often reply and thus kept normalizing it). Some people believe they have ownership of your time and you end up getting caught in a vicious cycle where nothing can get done because most managers don't have a clear picture of their team's capacity and keep saying yes to demands that come from above. Funnily enough all of these are always urgent. Employees who do a great job don't often receive recognition. On the other hand, providing feedback to those who might be lagging behind can be an unequal process depending on what position they're in. Often times it feels like being trapped in a toxic relationship with your job. Burnout talk became a taboo topic rather than an opportunity to address problems and improve the organizational structure, processes and company culture. For a company that prides itself on being fair and transparent, it was surprising how toxic the environment could sometimes be and how little is done to address working conditions in the main office. And this is without even getting into inclusiveness, gender balance, fair salaries, etc.
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
0.0
|
NEUTRAL
|
|
|
2.0
|
2.0
|
1.0
|
2.0
|
3.0
|
2.0
|
1.0
|
|
1474059
|
Open
|
Have an open conversation with employees about decision-making that affects the whole company. Make sure line managers have the time and capacity to tend to their teams instead of being caught up in too many meetings (and while we're at it, hold less meetings). Believe when someone says they feel like they need time off, it is a very demanding company, people have a personal connection to the mission and sometimes suffer from lack of support, which makes them more prone to overexert themselves. If they are wondering whether what they have is a burnout, they might already be well on their way. Another really important one: be careful with your hires. Depending on the position, it's not fair to expect someone to tick all the boxes, but try and take time to hire people that are a good fit in terms of both mission and role, rather than settling for one or the other (or making it a closed process where one person gets to decide without solid arguments). And finally, values are to be lived, whether or not they become a selling point/give market advantage will presumably come later, and only then they will add brand value and be perceived as authentic.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Fairphone
|
Telecommunications
|
Mobile Telecommunications
|
|
private:fairphone
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1474059
|
Nov 1st, 2019 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Fairphone
|
Anonymous Employee
|
Amsterdam
|
|
It's all smoke and mirrors
|
|
Fairphone seems like a dream company when you start (if you forget for a minute that you are underpaid). The office is beautiful. The mission is very attractive when you care about all things green and ethical. Work done on the ground (in China and Africa) is actually impactful. You can work with talented and brilliant colleagues that made days a bit better.
Apart from that, you're ready for a roller coaster of emotions at Fairphone, and not in a fun way.
|
It is sad to realise how unfair and exhausting Fairphone can be.
Salaries. The salary system is totally unfair, based on nothing but luck or personal preferences. Salaries are too low from the start, and will stay that way for most employees. Being paid correctly is a constant battle, unless you are part of the MT team.
How can you explain such big salary differences between 2 people in the same position? It's not a difference the size of a puddle, it is an ocean!
Burnouts. Countless burnouts. Fairphone is a toxic environment that leaves you frustrated, desperate, tired and for some people, literally sick. And this is like a pink elephant in the room. Everyone sees it, no one dares to talk openly about it.
Contracts. The employee turnover at Fairphone is insane. That alone is a very alarming sign that something is going very wrong. They are not trying to have employees on the long run, they have no interest in that. They promise they have your back, say they are happy with your work... until they decide to let you go. Better to get a new person full of energy and still blind they can pay less right? It's a precarious job, and apart losing your own self confidence and trust in "greener" companies, there's not much you get from working there.
Other dysfunctional issues exist within the company, like communication, wrong people in the MT team, mistrust, workload... it is a lot.
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
|
|
|
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
2.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
|
1474059
|
Open
|
Fairphone has SO MUCH potential. You can't say you are a company on the good side, claiming you make the world a better place, when most employees working at the HQ in Amsterdam leave with a very bitter taste. You are forgetting that you are hurting people, professionally and mentally. Start by paying people better, keep them for a long time, take care of their mental health and stop pushing away the problems you hear on the daily basis. Being fair starts there.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Fairphone
|
Telecommunications
|
Mobile Telecommunications
|
|
private:fairphone
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1474059
|
Sep 10th, 2019 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Fairphone
|
|
Amsterdam
|
|
All talk, no walk
|
|
The mission and vision invite you to believe that change is possible. The office is good-looking and nicely located. Some people are genuinely good.
|
Where to start?
The mission and vision are so compelling, it is understandable that people want to work here. The dedication to the cause is underused, and while external communication focuses on how much is being invested into the well-being of e.g. factory workers, one will internally hear raspberries being blown.
There are hardly any development plans, if you are able to develop it is more a matter of luck than that it has to do with one's own commitment and abilities. Critique is mostly not welcome, management is rather intransparent and leadership positions are given to people with seemingly little leadership (read: interpersonal) skills. The pay in some positions is not enough to have a decent living in a city like Amsterdam where rents are exploding, free yoga or bootcamps are not going to change that. The discrepancy between teams' freedom, workload, management, value... it is horrific. The values and daily work experience are miles apart.
The turnover and burnout rate is immense. Every time I have a look at the team website, I am startled how quick the faces change.
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
|
|
2.0
|
2.0
|
3.0
|
4.0
|
2.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
|
1474059
|
Open
|
Take care of the employee experience first, starting from attraction to retention. There is no point asking about the experience once someone quit. Letting applicants wait for weeks to get a decision on the other hand already augurs badly. Without truly working towards a meaningful employee experience, customers will never get a fully satisfying experience either.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Fairphone
|
Telecommunications
|
Mobile Telecommunications
|
|
private:fairphone
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1474059
|
Sep 7th, 2019 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Fairphone
|
Customer Support Officer
|
Amsterdam
|
|
Part of the customer support team
|
|
Best people to work with, energy, mission, flexibility, freedom
|
Internal communication between teams, not enough processes in place considering the age of the business, few unprofessional people in critical roles
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
0.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
4.0
|
|
1474059
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
1.0
|
|
|
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Fairphone
|
Telecommunications
|
Mobile Telecommunications
|
|
private:fairphone
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1474059
|
Mar 19th, 2019 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Fairphone
|
|
Amsterdam
|
|
Untrustable and abusive company
|
|
The office is very nice, open space with plants and a nice view. Employees in general are very motivated and they believe in the mission.
|
Everything seems nice at the first sight, strong community and a lovely team. However after a couple of months you realize that burnouts are a very common thing, every single employee is underpaid (except maybe for the recent management positions) and there is 0 structure.
Salaries are extremely low, even if they claim to be a fair company, so you won't be able to live by yourself like an adult and forget about having a professional career. They justify all their actions with "we're a startup" and abuses are allowed for the sake of the mission.
The concepts of "mental health" and "dignity" are completely unknown for People team -formerly known as HR. Employees start always full of energy because the mission is very appealing. Later they will be drained and they either leave or their contract is not renewed without a clear explanation, a new person full of energy and motivation will start and the vicious circle starts again.
Also the office is full of battles between teams, personal dramas now and then, managers being disrespectful with employees... Your bigger challange is to keep your mental health and dig inside yourself for motiviation instead of achieving real goals.
Skilled people is wasting their talent as they cannot learn anything from their managers and they will not grow within the company. Management decision are not transparent, they are not honest about the financial situation of the company with the employees nor the partners and investors. They are not transparent either about the product itself with the customers, which let employees with a sense of honour in a very uncomfortable position, especially when transparency is one of the core values.
Working at FP is a experience full of professional frustration and you cannot even afford your rent.
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
|
|
5.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
3.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
|
1474059
|
Open
|
- Focus on improving working conditions in your HQ as much as you do with China. In Amsterdam you also have human beings with rights and a powerful team that is never rewarded the way they deserve.
- Be honest. Transparency is one of your values, lead by example and be honest with your employees and investors.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
1.0
|
|
|
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Fairphone
|
Telecommunications
|
Mobile Telecommunications
|
|
private:fairphone
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1474059
|
Nov 12th, 2018 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Fairphone
|
|
Netherlands
|
NLD
|
Don’t be naive, don't go there
|
|
Most people are skilled, very motivated and kind.
Fairphone office is great, you can work sprawling in a couch or in a hammock chair but it's just smoke and mirror.
I believe in the good faith of the passionate founders and employees who really care about making an impact.
|
Fairphone is a very stressful and frustrating company. Many people suffer from that. What you think was exceptional such as “ having a burnout", becomes as normal as having a cold.
Although everyone is very willing to make an impact the office is just a battle between team to get their projects the priority as there's not project management skills in the company.
Something becomes a priority because a boss say it is so without taking into account the workload and impact on other projects/team.
Experienced people have no future, you’re too expensive so every 1.5 year there you go replace by a new junior (and then the”infernal cycle” begin again ).
You’ll probably be paid 25% less than you should earn although it’s suppose to be a “Fair” company. Good luck to find a house in Amsterdam if you want to live on your own like an adult.
So if you think "ok I'll be pay less but my job will be meaningful and pleasant", it's not true for most people in that company.
They don’t care about turnover and seem never read articles about the reason startup are failing (Human management).
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
|
|
0.0
|
2.0
|
3.0
|
2.0
|
3.0
|
1.0
|
2.0
|
|
1474059
|
Open
|
less hierarchy more communication, more project management tools and processes.
Be fair with your employees.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Fairphone
|
Telecommunications
|
Mobile Telecommunications
|
|
private:fairphone
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1474059
|
Oct 31st, 2018 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Fairphone
|
|
Amsterdam
|
|
Don't go there if you're thinking long term
|
|
The company has a good vibe, great office and is working for a good cause. If you're looking for a nice place to work for a while then this is a good place to start.
|
Don't go there if you're thinking long term. Typically you'll get a 6 months contract and then a renewal for one year. Most of the times it stops there and Fairphone will not extend your contract. Fairphone does not want to take the risk to offer permanent contracts, especially now that the financial situation is pretty bad. Fairphone wants to improve working conditions in China, which is great, but in the mean time they forget their own staff here in Amsterdam when it comes to job security and long term commitment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1.0
|
2.0
|
3.0
|
3.0
|
2.0
|
3.0
|
1.0
|
|
1474059
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Feb 7th, 2021 09:50PM
|
Fairphone
|
Telecommunications
|
Mobile Telecommunications
|