The CEO does not concern himself with anyone other than people he sees on a daily basis. Given, this is what is to be expected, but when he openly disregards the concerns of an entire department, it’s a problem. Over the past four years, everyone that has come to power has been a yes-man or works themselves like a dog. The majority of those in management have their position due to seniority or familial ties to the CEO. The turnover rate is high for the entire company, and it’s fairly common for someone to be furloughed or laid off without notice. Because of this, people are often promoted very quickly, but only in title. If you want a decent raise, you better make an excellent case for yourself, otherwise you will be used.
As for training, unless you luck out and have the single person that cares enough to see you do well at the job and improve as an employee, you will get no more than a few hours of training before it’s off to the races. The mentality for the most part is to do bare minimum for both client and employee. Therefore, change and progress are infrequent, and if it happens, it is rushed due to the expectations of a client. Although I can understand that the wishes of clients and potential ones would shift the focus of research and development, it should not interfere with any service that existing clients receive—simply because someone else pays a little more. This results in the vicious cycle they have found themselves in: hire quickly, provide bare-bones training, and then wait until either the client loses interest or there is a lull in the workload. At that point, indefinitely furlough the “extra baggage.”
Now in terms of the actual working conditions, most equipment is dated. Most people have restricted internet access, which limits productivity and quality output. Expectations are reasonable in the beginning but rise quickly. There are sporadic reviews of employees, but most managers do not provide helpful feedback—if any. There are pay discrepancies throughout the company, but they are not due to merit. This is particularly true for content authors and tutors, but it is present in sales and upper management. Overall, pay is not based on merit, skill, or experience, but seniority and brownnosing. As a side note, there have been a few instances of drug and alcohol consumption during hours of operation.
Any position within the company should be considered seasonal based on an academic calendar. This does allow for more flexible and longer vacations. They listen when it comes to religious holidays and extended leaves of absence as long as it is not during an expected spike in workload. That being said, I want to emphasize that the company is located in Florida, so the employee has complete control over PTO. They can refuse or deny PTO as they see fit, including rewriting policies without employee consent. In addition, schedules are now rigid. The policy was relaxed until this year, and now scheduling is based on a client’s wishes with little input from the employee. Frankly, you will need to have full-time availability (24/7) for part-time employment.
