David Fischer

Stay Far, Far Away The company has been on a downhill trajectory for at least the last 2 years. It's not a coincidence that this is when the CFO came on board and brought on investors. Since then it's been terrible decision after terrible decision and employees that gave years of their lives to the company have had to pay the price. The company used to preach commendable values like promoting from within, fostering a collaborative environment, creating a culture of transparency etc. There might have been a time where that was true but those days are long gone. In its wake is the company equivalent of a totalitarian regime: do what your boss says or get out. Senior management only enforces this culture by glorifying its leadership on social media with public adulation. The result is a leadership team that is empowered to do whatever it wants while the rest quietly acquiesce for fear of retribution. And make no mistake, this is by design. The CEO has a tendency to fall in love with bullies and Highsnobiety is now run only by bullies, nearly all of which have 3 things in common: they're straight, white, and male. This is especially disturbing when considering the culture Highsnobiety represents. Additionally, don't bother saying anything to HR because that will only backfire and the company will use whatever you said in confidence as a way of getting back at you. This is one of the company's biggest open secrets and other reviewers have said as much. If you're lucky enough for them to hold what you tell them in confidence, you can be assured that either 1. nothing will be done about it or 2. it'll be bungled in such a way that the end result is worse than when you brought it to them. In short, HR is the enemy of the people at Highsnobiety and is simply the last line of defense before senior management. It's telling that the HR team is now replying to all of the recent negative reviews with a stock message. That should tell you everything you need to know about the empathy levels of these people. What else? The majority of the workforce is in Berlin, a fact Highsnobiety constantly takes advantage of. The company knows there are no jobs to be had in the city so it uses that fact to treat people poorly and pay them just enough to get by. The con list goes on and on but if you made it this far there's a good chance you've gotten the point by now and are strongly considering turning back while you can. On the off-chance Highsnobiety makes it through the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, it'll remain an awful place to work. Do yourself a favor and stay far, far away. Don't let the occasional new pair of sneakers or Highsnobiety-branded merch fool you.