Nice brand, complete disaster underneath
Pros
There are some brilliant people left, but a lot of them are heading out the door. The brand looks great on your CV when you leave. The wine hamper is lovely too.
Cons
Where to start? The operating model for the UK is broken and has been broken for 4+ yeas and everyone is stressed out. Merlin doesn't work despite tens of millions being spent on it. Salaries are a joke and bonuses aren't actually that good. There is a significant move away from London jobs which isn't news, but is unpleasant for everyone now in London or who had plans to have a London career. The share price has tanked and if you're holding shares from various sharesaves, you've lost a ton of money. But the worst thing is the "culture". There is so much talk of it from senior management along with "values" but what happens in real life is very different. People who keep failing in their roles and in upholding basic moral behaviour keep getting promoted and keep causing problems for those affected by their poor decision making. HR seem incapable of dealing with rogue behaviour and everyone else has to put up with toxic people. No wonder the engagement scores keep falling - but nothing has really ever been properly done about any of it. There is so much rude and obnoxious behaviour and no friendly and human atmosphere - maybe because everyone is so stressed and maybe because everyone's seen bad behaviour being rewarded so people have figured there's no point being civil anymore. Nepotism is a big thing still and diversity is all talk.
