I know on a base level that everything that corporate does is a lie, but the descent into toxicity was very steep.
- From the beginning of my time there -
If you're sensitive to diversity and inclusion or if you value that at all, it's extremely uncomfortable to work here. Everyday I have a crisis when it comes to my values as a person. I can't share much about this in particular unfortunately, but if you look at the publishing industry in general when it comes to diversity and inclusion, I can just say that Frontiers is a part of the problem. This was absolutely devastating to me because I had high hopes (naive of me, I know - considering where the company was founded), but I will say working here has taught me a lot about how racism and discrimination is perpetuated especially under the guise of or through more acceptable systems - say like capitalism. From the beginning, the manager for the team I was part of was very Frontiers-forward, meaning very sensitive to all and any statements that could put Frontiers in a bad light. This made it difficult to talk about anything regarding the publishing industry because again - Frontiers is part of the problem. I tried talking about other things and it would last to a certain point and would allow the manager to make it seem like they were open-minded and/or well-informed about how the publishing industry works.
- During my time there -
As I got into the swing of things and after the manager noticed that I have a great work ethic and great results, I started noticing that the manager would try to get me to do their work. They wouldn't say anything directly but would often enough ask me to do things not really part of my job and wouldn't say what it was for. I had to ask for what those things (e.g. powerpoint, summaries of meetings, questions for meetings) were for, and after I realized I was being taken advantage of, I immediately stopped doing my best for things explicitly not part of my job description, which was extremely vague from the beginning (but again money/benefits). (Yes, I know now that's a red flag.) The reason I was doing those things was because I thought it was a separate opportunity that would showcase my skills and earn me accolades so I can move up in the company. Before I stopped doing my best on those extracurriculars, I noticed that they didn't give me any credit or mention to the people in the meeting that I had completed those things. The manager knew that I was a very detailed, prideful person in regards to work and likes to overprepare for meetings and events. So they would ask minutes before meetings/events would start - knowing that I've done those things days in advance - and putting me in the position to choose whether or not I want to look unprepared with them or be the overconfident entry level worker not even humble enough to help their manager prepare for a meeting. Cause we're a team, right? Even if that wasn't the case, the next interpretation is that they didn't care at all and just wanted someone to do their work and that's still horrible.
About four months in, the only other person of color I had made a connection with left due to their manager being overbearing about targets, making them the scapegoat for their faulty, incorrect advice (e.g. their manager told them to do one thing, so my connection did, but then their manager called them into a meeting and told them that they shouldn't have done that), and stressing them out to unhealthy levels in general. I spoke to them personally about this after they left the company, and I describe it here because I didn't realize that my connection leaving was a red flag. I thought that since we were on different teams, I would be fine, but that was wrong.
About six months in, I was working with the manager of the team I was in to improve some processes in regards to how we work with researchers. There was absolutely no support from the manager at all and one idea that I had - the manager took to report it upward and I never heard about that idea again. It was clear at that point that the manager had a favorite (another member of the team), which made it uncomfortable for me because there are many Frontiers-forward people here and to talk with them you need to agree on a different faulty-opinion - which is Frontiers can do no wrong. I didn't know if the favorite was Frontiers-forward or not, and it was hard to tell. So ultimately, I felt very isolated until I made another work buddy that I could be truthful with. Which - honestly that's the biggest stress of working here. Having to lie every single day and make nonsense feasible - I think - has been warping my reality-based train of thought processes. I also am not allowed to share much about this.
More months later there were MAJOR company shifts that involved a NEW and NEVER HEARD OF focus on targets (at least based on my location). The targets were unrealistic and the meeting with higher management about those targets weren't helpful. I actually think they were set up to pressure content specialists into believing that these targets were realistic. They felt more like bullying sessions and I was pressured to not take vacations - EVEN THOUGH they never told us about this change ahead of time. It was quite literally a sneaky way (within the month we had to fall in line) to introduce targets, and not give anyone time to reconsider their position here. There's been a general decrease in the quality of work that I'm doing and it's company-encouraged because of those targets and the general culture of surveillance and accepted unrealistic goals/actions. The micromanagement is constant but it's not about anything we can actually control. People respond to emails on their own time. Quality research topics take time to develop.
Some of my work buddies have great managers that aren't too morally depressed to protect them from these unrealistic goals. Most of those work buddies are not in America, and I've started noticing that some of them fight back against managers and things like that comfortably without thinking they could be fired. This is wonderful and I wish them a wonderful working experience with Frontiers. It's just not how it's going on the team I'm on. I also wonder if those people are in countries with better work cultures in general.
- At the end of my time here -
The publishing industry - I realize now - is quite elitist, and it's kind of difficult to get another job were you can use your skills, especially as a content specialist, without a publishing-aligned degree (my opinion). In the beginning, I was writing things out, trying to improve processes and systems, but by the end I was just emailing people. It wasn't as organized as it should've been for it to be called email marketing (if anyone was trying to use that term). I tried looking into the ALSPS (Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers) and I'm starting to think there are more and better opportunities to improve your skillset as an editor, general editorial assistant, or person trying to help spread factual information to people need it/ would be entertained by it in Europe. Without the ALSPS and with just google searching, I found that you can do the same in African, APAC, South American, and the Caribbean countries. Most of them require some language proficiency (based on my research) but there are english - written publications that have wonderful opportunities that are incredibly specific (like designing the flow of books and magazines; there's actual degree programs for that in some APAC countries). Will they be better than Frontiers? I don't know.
It took me a long time to find another job, and it's still kind of entry level. I took to starting my own website, so I can learn more publishing-aligned skills like SEO, SEM, editing in all its forms, designing cover images, aligning things so it flows well - and things like that. While managing that and doing my full-time, I'll also be freelancing to learn more and put things on my resume. But, in general, I came to Frontiers wanting to be part of the scientific editorial experience from helping researchers start their idea and using SEO tools, to copyediting and advocating for them, to doing the little things and abiding by a detailed, constantly referenced style guide, to keeping up with science trends and developments in general and using that knowledge to coordinate events/online marketing - etc etc just more intensive project management skill improvement based on the scholarly publishing industry. That's definitely not what happened, and the job would be more accurately described as an Emailer/Customer Service Satisfaction employee.
