ATG Entertainment Reviews

Despite the job role itself not being particularly difficult - what does make shifts difficult is the management and certain supervisors on shift, as well as extremely rude, disrespectful, and drunk customers (this varies depending on what show is on) - and sometimes even verbally abusive customers. There is a recurring theme of hierarchy and favouritism amongst management - e.g. the favourites being promoted to supervisors, or people who are available for more shifts are prioritised over those who may not be able to work every shift due to University or other jobs. Being on a 0 hour contract means that shifts are inconsistent and there are weeks where you could have no shifts at all, and others where you could be in for 6 days. Weeks where there no shows on could be utilised for staff to come in for training for a range of things - a lot of staff have not been trained on things such as “Ask for Angela,” despite posters being up about it. Management do not listen to staff when it comes to training opportunities- I have asked on multiple occasions about mental health first aid training being offered to at least every first aider, but have had no response. There is very little room for professional improvement and any training given is sometimes rushed and is done on shift - meaning we aren’t able to do our jobs properly due to being on a schedule on when tasks need to be completed. Certain managers and supervisors are unprofessional and bully staff on shift. Staff have been reduced to tears due to the way they have been treated by their supervisor and don’t even feel comfortable enough to go to management to report this behaviour because they are all friends and favour their friends over everyone else; despite their unprofessional behaviour and lack of basic respect. On full day shifts (when there are a matinee and an evening show), staff will be in for 8-9+ hours and will get a 20 minute break - especially for shows like Panto with a tight turn around between shows. Staff aren’t allowed to drink water on shift - we need to ask permission from our supervisor to go to the staff room for a drink of water, but we can’t spend too long having a drink. If we are caught drinking tap water on bars, we get reprimanded by managers. When on house positions (I.e. stood inside the auditorium), we are often stood for 3+ hours per show (could be around 6+ hours on two show days) in the same position with nowhere to sit - which is often physically exhausting and I have found to be very painful for my hips and lower back. Pick up between shows can be disgusting - we are expected to clean up everything that has been dropped by customers who have no common sense and are very clearly uncivilised. We can spend up to 30+ minutes bending down and picking up things such as popcorn, food, dirty nappies, gum etc. During this, most supervisors won’t even help and will just stand and watch us struggle as they attempt to assign the worst job to either whoever will accept or their least favourite staff member. Overall, it can be a very toxic working environment in terms of management and supervisors, and there is next to no recognition for the hard work of staff members, even those who work hard and put effort in during shifts. Management thrive off of favouritism and their cliques, and making shifts depressing and unnecessarily more difficult and stressful for staff. Front of house staff need to be valued a lot more, and treated better than they currently are - then there would be no need to have several big intakes per year, as staff will be more likely to stay if they feel valued.

In my first week I was told that nobody in the management team of the department I was joining ever lasted more than a year so I should expect to be moved on within a year. This proved to be the case and I was made redundant within a year along with my peers with some nonsence reasoning about positioning the company for a takeover and needing certain staff in certain positions. I was invited to apply for a higher paid job that they knew I would not want and I turned it down. Months later they still a haven’t filled the position as everyone interviewed has supposedly failed the interview, almost as if the job is unrealistic and/or undesireable. In reality, it’s a job role that really belongs back in the 1990s. They are living in then past with outdated approaches to software development but that doesn’t matter to them. It’s not about delivering good products, it’s about ticking boxes so the potential buyers will buy the company. Lots of politics and just so frustrating to see good people wasted at that company.