ICrossing, part of Hearst Magazine has been slow-dripping layoffs / firings since Feb 2024.
The people who work ant iCrossing are very talented, kind and good-hearted. But it’s amazing what poor leadership at the top could do to a person. I’ve witnessed the most well-intentioned people covertly throwing others they respect under bus after bus after bus.
Why? This agency is led by fear and intimidation that stems from executive leadership’s own incompetence. The president should not be president (maybe an accounting director at best). I’ve personally been asked to spy on other peers across functions. We were under video surveillance and there were speculations of audio bugs as well. iCrossing in the US is an authoritarian state.
Executive incompetence also way-over promised growth projections to mommy Hearst. This caused chaotic shifts in the business offering and approach nearly 3 times in a single year, leading to big layoffs. Some were made to look like employee-elected resignations, agency role eliminations, and performance-based firings—seemingly randomly over nearly a year in an effort to throw Hearst off the scent of bad leadership. People who had NO performance issues were PIPed and made to feel like complete trash — FOR NO REASON. These are people who have been top-tier employees prior to working here.
If you’re interviewing here, know that you’re disposable and will have a number on your back starting day 1–even if you’re not in a sales role and even if you have no close proximity to client interaction and even if you aren’t told you have a number on your back. You will be micromanaged by the very top-held position who will get involved where they absolutely shouldn’t be. After 3 months, you’ll begin to doubt you ever knew what you’re doing. By month 6, you’ll be in therapy. By month 8, you’ll be let go.
If you’re a client who’s checking out Glassdoor to see what kind of company you’ve hired or might hire—know that iCrossing will try to aggressively (!!!) sell you digital solutions (software, etc) after you begin your project. They’ve eliminated close to 90% of their client partners (ADs), so you’ll be working with fear-driven “sales” people who are just trying to keep their jobs by taking more of your $$$ so that execs can keep Hearst happy. It’s not about what makes you happy or what makes you $$$. In fact, it’s never about you at all. (Tip: Request to check their credit / audit history before signing a contract. And search “iCrossing” AND “fraud” in recent news.)
The worst company I’ve ever worked for. And now that I’m working client-side, I’ll be sure to never hire them.