Pros
The staff you work beside, they are some of the best people around.
Cons
I have a very strong work ethic and am fine working in fast paced and stressful environments. This is different, this is a toxic and unsafe work environment. Breaks are paid but you only get 15 min for an 8 hour shift. They cut benefits this year and added in benefits nobody was wanting or asking for. Management are all mostly untrained in their fields and their lack of training and experience shows. They gaslight everyone into thinking they are wonderful at their jobs and encourage others to gaslight anyone who can see behind their facade. If you stand up for yourself there you’re seen as having a negative mindset and from then on are pushed out. Management critiques you for months behind your back with journals (which they can orchestrate and fabricate) and then use them as actual evidence against you to demote or fire you. They get their management to then write positive reviews online to offset the ones that actually matter. Because the only thing they’re qualified for is talking. Especially if that’s talking about something they’re untrained for. The people in charge are the least creative in the building and they do not want to hear your ideas. It’s noticed very early on by actual creative individuals. Instead of using the ideas as building blocks to a better and more true vision they take them as personal digs because they’re jealous they couldn’t come up with something better than an improperly made waffle cone in a ran down trailer behind a shed. Their products, ideas, and plans appear to be thoughtful but really are just get rich quick schemes. They go with the cheapest, fastest, and normally the most mundane ideas. They crush the creativity and the passion from their employees. They’re so big on “we are willing to buy the best and the most organic or healthy for our customers even if it takes more time and money, we will do it” (Swamp 101 quote) yet won’t even keep that mentality for their own in house products. They encourage you to speed up or cut corners on your work even if they lose a little of bit of the quality to cut down on the cost of labor. Which is very triggering and toxic. If you normally have your cooks or bakes done perfectly they gaslight you into thinking that’s a bad thing. They use the excuse of Swamp having a rustic vibe but really it’s just becoming a sloppy vibe. Because even rustic bakeries and kitchens can achieve consistency and high quality. They raise the prices of their products and shrink the size/quality because “our customers will pay whatever we charge.” They have one value, money. And if you think there’s any other value that matters there, you haven’t worked there long enough. There are unsafe and gross food handling practices. They won’t purchase enough hand towels for all the kitchen staff to use. They don’t purchase enough gloves either, you run out of both all of the time. They try pinching pennies in the wrong departments (HR would be a good start, there’s some funds going towards that department that are definitely wasted). Cross contamination is big there too. If you’re actually vegan or celiac please don’t eat anything in house made there. Thank goodness I mentioned that to you guys and you actually listened and changed your stickers. (To be fair you only listened because y’all were one big lawsuit away from getting shut down from that). They film, record, and exploit you. They have cameras around the building and management will sit upstairs watching you like Big Brother. It is very disturbing and triggering. Workplace injuries and accidents. They will twist however you got injured or hurt and make you the problem. After you are injured there the help you get from HR is minimal at best and often times holds you back because they don’t complete their paperwork on time or even have it filled out properly. Their HR (and some other upper management) discriminates against race, gender, and people going through pregnancy. They are crazy enough to admit it right to you because they are so untrained they don’t even know what they should or shouldn’t be saying to their own employees. Instead of discussing these issues with you, they find an excuse to fire you in hopes that the issue is then dealt with. They used to have values and morals but with their growth those have clearly went out the window. They have staff there that are clearly using them for their own benefit and because they’ve worked there for so long they are biased and will trust everything they do or say. Unfortunately they are some of the ones closest to the owners, people who they believe to have their best interest at heart. Really they are bringing the company and the company’s values and morals way down. If you have a strong work ethic, a passion for food and a love for your community, it will be destroyed after working there for a few months. Because although they act like those values still matter to them, the only real value they have is money. They will work their best and most experienced and talented people down. If you are a good worker they will overwork you and still tell you that you’re not doing enough. Whereas slow paced workers are praised by HR for just waking up and coming into work that day. They donate their products to people who can afford it and won’t give out scraps or free to staff stuff to the homeless community right outside their own doors. These cons have all been mentioned to you guys before I left, so they could have been dealt with while I was there. But you didn’t care at all about what I had to say, so don’t offer that in the feedback. I could go on and on but nothing will change and Swamp will continue to manipulate their customers and their employees for a few more years.
