Warehouse - Independent Contractor Akron Beacon Journal Employee Review

friendly people to work with.

no free foods and perks

I learned a ton about newswriting and journalism while working here. It's a real newsroom experience and I definitely took away skills that have served me in subsequent jobs. It's unionized so the pay is decent for the area and industry, plus you can get all the standard benefits. The people working in the newsroom are great as well.

Mainly, there have been a lot of layoffs in recent years due to digitization, low print distribution, etc. There's definitely a sense that the publication is flagging and they're struggling to keep up with the changing industry. They kept laying off/buying out full-time people and hiring more interns while I was there. For this reason, morale was super low, and it doesn't feel like a great place for a younger person to build a long-term career. It can also be tough to take a vacation (or even a single day off) as it's dependent on how many other people have already requested off. You also obviously have to work weekends and holidays, since it's a 365-day paper.