Pros
TED is full of vibrant, enthusiastic young talent. Diverse young people come from all over the world to work at TED, throwing themselves into their tasks and forming a warm, supportive community. TED isn't a competitive atmosphere, and the content is enriching and fun to work with. For staffers lucky enough to attend conferences, the networking is incredible and the atmosphere is infectious. Going to a TED conference as staff is a once in a lifetime opportunity. While some TED speakers are challenging to work with, the vast majority are humble, excited and genuine experts in their industries who are thrilled and grateful to collaborate with TED staff. The health benefits at TED are generous, and if you're lucky enough to become a favorite in the eyes of leadership, you'll receive a lot of opportunities to grow and experiment.
Cons
It's rare to see real advancement or mentorship. While TED regularly hires its interns, the practice locks these new hires in at very low salaries that help the company save money and make it difficult for them to negotiate competitively. Salaries vary wildly across the company, even for the same positions. TED's status as a nonprofit is used to explain away salaries that haven't increased in years, while senior leadership typically makes six figures. The fact that TED's Head curator does not take a salary (he also owns the organization) is used to obscure the fact that other members of senior leadership make nearly half a million dollars a year. TED is a nonprofit only when it wants to be. There is strong pushback against anyone who raises labor concerns, from salary transparency to concerns about diversity, racism, classism or retaliation. TED talks a big game about its culture but fails to make actual changes that make the workplace more equitable. Policies around remote working, paid leave, flexible hours and vacation days are not enforced fairly across the company, leading to a disparity in how management is allowed to behave and how the rest of staff are treated and penalized. Management skills (or a lack thereof) are also an issue at TED. Problematic, inappropriate and abusive managers remain at TED for years without incident even as staffers flock to HR in droves to complain, or just quit. While some departments are great to work for due to their leadership, other departments have deep systemic issues with bullying, favoritism, intimidation and retaliation. Each department is its own kingdom with its own culture, and it's rare for leaders to face consequences for their failure to retain staffers or meet goals. Certain teams are well-known revolving doors with departure rates as high as 80%. When the sexually inappropriate behavior of executive level leader was exposed in the press, he was quietly removed from his team but not fired and is still a prominent member of the TED community. He continues to complain about his unjust treatment and make inappropriate remarks around staff. The sad fact is that TED has strong talent but doesn't know what to do with it. Senior leaders remain at the company for years because the TED community is also their social life and they are well taken care of financially. The blurriness between TED as a community (of attendees, speakers and company leadership) leads to biased decisions made constantly about what "ideas" are important to highlight. Everyone outside of senior leadership leaves once they realize the hype of TED as a "family" doesn't extend past a dozen or so people at the top. This lack of change at the top of the company means there is little room for growth past a certain level for other staff, and creative thinking stagnates. Strategy changes are only taken at the whim of the CEO, with new initiatives announced every year that lack appropriate staffing or resources to succeed. This leads to the stretching of existing staff to accommodate an ever-expanding demand, and a serious issue with mission drift. Burnout is dangerously high and there's a large exodus of staff about once every two years. Staff concern about burnout and unmanageable workloads are met with eye-rolls and excuses from leadership. TED could be a thriving, successful company if leadership were willing to embrace change and recognize its own role in holding the company back.