Pros
If you get the headline, you'll understand that what I mean is this: On surface level, Wise is an exceptional company. Unlimited office perks (fresh food, different types of vitamin drinks and softs, sauna, gym, massage chairs, wide and modern open spaces) - good travel budgets for specific teams, and of course, some great people to work with in occasions.
Cons
in reality, Wise is like a bumblebee, it flies, defying all laws of physics with its small wings and oversized body. The executive management at Wise is mostly composed of early employees who successfully scaled the company to what it is today. There is however an absolute disconnection between them and the teams that hold the foundations together. Team building is non existent, information is living in people's minds but documentation and processes are scarce. Approach to product is bottom-up which makes governance and decision making unnecessarily difficult. Roles are often created with no clear understanding of what type of skills are required and onboarding support is nonexistent. The approach to management is idealistic, but not rooted in proven practices. Most managers wing it, many of them are actually terrible at it. Wise pride itself on an artificial feedback culture which they force on people with silly questions that often can't bring any objective value to neither the giver or receiver. Accountability is also an unknown word in their world. Most people who have been working there for a while will tell you how the company has changed in the last 3 years. Salaries are low. Stock options kind of make up for it but there is no money in the world that makes up for the stress and anger I personally feel after a day of work. Switching to Wise has by far been the worst professional mistake I have made in my life. This is coming from someone who worked in corporate for many years. Last but not least, their internal career moves policy is one of the most ridiculous aspects of working at Wise: You join a team in a position that was recently created -> the job is ambiguous, and what you were promised in the job description doesn't really match the reality -> you get frustrated and try to look at other options, rather than giving up and leaving a couple of months after starting -> here is the catch, policy says you need to speak to your lead before applying to another job. Of course I won't because all it will do is backfire, because ego is a human trait, and when going unchecked for too long like it's the case at Wise, it becomes the rule. To be clear, I have always been a top performer in all of my roles. I would question myself if it wasn't because 2 of my colleagues have already left the team shortly after starting for the exact same reasons I mention above. I'm next, and another one will soon leave too. I recently referred an ex colleague who received an offer to join Wise in a very senior role. She rejected, because I gave her my honest opinion. At this point I didn't even care about the juicy referral bonus I was about to receive. I could not in good conscience pretend that this is a healthy place to work at.
