JFS St. Louis Reviews

1.7

12% would recommend to a friend

(28 total reviews)

Miriam Seidenfeld

4% approve of CEO

15% positive business outlook

JFS St. Louis has an employee rating of 1.7 out of 5 stars, based on 28 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a poor working experience there. The JFS St. Louis employee rating is 55% below average for employers within the Non-profit and NGO industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

28 reviews
2.0
20 Oct 2023

These Reviews Don't Lie

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

JFS provides a plethora of services to the community. They are also inclusive when employing staff. Staff are skilled in their fields of work.

Cons

The sentiments that I have about having worked at JFS are best described in the previous reviews. I've read the reviews prior to, and during my employment. Everything that has been stated in those reviews IS true! I may reiterate some of those same points in my review, but I want to shed light on other factors as to why I left the company. While the work that I did at JFS was fulfilling, the micromanagement and toxicity coming from all levels of management killed my morale. When I first took my position, my supervisor wanted me to believe that this was a great place to work. For the first few months, I genuinely felt I was in the right place employment-wise and I enjoyed the comraderie I built with those I worked with at JFS. When I started taking notice of the staff turnover rate, the stiff productivity measures in my department, and the demand to perform my job duties using those unrealistic measures, I had realized I needed out of there because it was affecting my work- life balance and my mental health. As I started expressing my concerns to my direct supervisor, she initially seemed determined to take on the challenge of standing up for her staff when raising these concerns to the CEO. It wasn't long until my supervisor assumed a "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mentality and became toxic in her leadership role as well. I felt gaslighted by my supervisor in my last several months of employment: she made me feel as if I was the only one with these concerns, and painted me as the only one with the negative attitude in my own department. I know many of the staff (former or current) shared my sentiments and my concerns, though. It is also evident I wasn't the only person feeling this way because many others in my department have left JFS under hers and the CEO's leadership. I grew frustrated that I arrived to work before my supervisor and left after my supervisor many days of the week, only to be met by criticism if I didn't meet productivity measures each week. I also felt as if the quality and quantity of my work was being viewed through multiple magnifying glasses. Furthermore, the CEO was unable to successfully describe my job role in my department to others within, or outside, of the organization. Yet, she is the final decision maker as to how stringent our productivity measures are. These sentiments are also echoed by former and current employees in my department, too. As to the point of the "shared misery" comment in another review, it's very true. You can see the looks of fatigue and the flat affect on other employees' faces every day. I worked with great people at JFS, and we got each other through each day the best we could. Ice cream trucks at staff meetings once a month isn't going to wipe the exhaustion away from our daily grind.

1.0
17 Mar 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

JFS provides services to the entire community regardless of ability to pay JFS hires highly qualified and dedicated staff Services for children who live in St Louis County are free JFS has a wonderful Services to Older Adults Dept providing counseling, case management, in-home services, information and referral services JFS has a well run food pantry which provides nutritious food to St Louis County residents JFS’s building is well maintained and secure JFS has several funding sources including United Way and Jewish Federation

Cons

JFS has one major con and her name is Miriam Seidenfeld. She has been the CEO for the past 5 years. Her management style consists of bullying, intimidation, and harassment. Because of this, she is unable to retain the highly qualified staff she hires. She believes that her way is the only way. She refuses to listen to others’ opinions, talks over them, is rude, refuses to give anyone credit for being creative, believes no one but her has any wisdom, expertise, or problem solving skills, expects staff to work beyond their scheduled 8 hours a day, keeps staff siloed so they can’t talk to each other even though she says she wants a collaborative environment. Don’t waste your time applying at JFS because the average length of employment is about one year. No one can tolerate her meanness much longer than that. She operates under the false assumption that she’s well liked but I guess she hasn’t read the 22 negative reviews on Glassdoor.

1.0
20 Oct 2023

Do not work here - toxic & abusive ceo

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There really aren’t any I can think of besides the dental and eye insurance are affordable.

Cons

I’ve never in my years of work experienced a more toxic, unwelcoming and abusive workplace like jfs. Do not apply here and do not for a moment think they your experience will be any better. There is no effective leadership at JFS. Staff are treated like they are disposable. Manager are so burnt out they’re not mentally present, they’re completely checked out. and that’s exactly what working with Miriam Seidenfeld does to you. what’s going on at jfs is ABUSE. There’s no other way to put it. Miriam Seidenfeld is not a ceo, she is a bully. She does everything in her power to put you down, put your team down, put your manager down and make everyone feel small. If you care about your career or your mental health avoid JFS like the plague!

Viewing 1 - 3 of 28 Reviews

Glassdoor has 28 JFS St. Louis reviews submitted anonymously by JFS St. Louis employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if JFS St. Louis is right for you.