gdanning's comment is almost correct. Ridden is a very negative term for 'full of'. (that is 'of', not 'off') Another example: The dog's blanket was ridden with fleas. Another example of 'status-ridden' might be an organisation where people work hard to get a better job title, rather than to do a better job.

Thank you Gdanning

Ridden = full off ("The cockroach-ridden apartment was disgusting"). So this means that many things the company did were based on rewarding status, not on rewarding the best employees (status = position compared to others. So company executives are high status, and the person who cleans the bathroom is low status)