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SAE Institute

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12 reviews
2.0
29 Jan 2015

Great staff, poor corporate management

Anonymous employee
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Pros

The Ex'pression staff and faculty are great - very supportive, fun, helpful, and of creative minds. The campus/facilities are aesthetically impressive and unique. A very "fun" environment to work in. The student body consists of a hodgepodge of artists, freaks, misfits, and seriou students - which is a good thing. Decent number of paid holidays, okay health benefits, decent time-off accrual rate.

Cons

Things have changed drastically over the past year. Previous Ex'pression owners and prior executive team members were personally invested in the school and at least appeared to care about the school, it's staff, and the students. However, the school was recently bought by S.A.E. and the entire Executive team was let go, along with many key departments. Now all decisions, approvals, and hirings happen at the corporate level - by people in offices spread across the country (and in some cases, IN another country). This would not be a huge problem if communication and follow-through occurred. However, it now can take weeks or even months to get an answer - and that is after much hounding. All the administrative processes are held up, which in turn affects the functioning of departments. Morale is at an all-time low. Those in higher level management positions who are actually on campus have no decision-making power. Their hands are tied as well.

3.0
16 May 2024

Salary review

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Pros

Staff member are very friendly. Everyone works as a team, meaning that during crunch time periods, colleagues helps each other.

Cons

There is a lack of a clear communication between the upper management and the staff.

1.0
24 Sept 2024

Terrible management - always trying to squeeze more from employees

Anonymous employee
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Pros

Some great colleagues who care about their craft

Cons

- Pay increases below inflation every year, if at all. - Management is constantly crying poor. - Terrible communication at best, gaslighting at worst. - Some incredibly manipulative and nasty people in management who will not hesitate to throw you under the bus if it suits them.

2.0
1 Sept 2020

Average

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Pros

Location, education sector, nature of the work, creative environment

Cons

Lack of career progression and poor communication

3.0
23 Sept 2018

Fair and in transition

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Pros

Casual environment good colleagues decent equipment

Cons

Constant transitions and lack of top to bottom communication

3.0
21 Nov 2018

Good for a few years of career experience

Anonymous employee
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Pros

Seeing student successes in class and beyond. Global company with lots of great people.

Cons

No particular recognition or reward for employees with limited career growth opportunity. Mixed direction and often lacking communication in all business areas.

2.0
2 Sept 2020

Management ground down the people and talent in pursuit of the almighty dollar

Anonymous employee
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Pros

The people (no longer valid), the unique education area that is generally more interesting and creative.

Cons

Communication between management and employees is woeful. Us vs them mentality in most areas but mostly between management and everyone else. Pay is right on minimum wage and they use creative accounting to squeeze more hours out of everyone. Vague confusing contracts that are very difficult to decipher without someone who is experienced. I received two pay increases over 10 years while management took biyearly management retreats that bought zero benefits to the campus. In one instance a staff teamwork award was never paid out to the staff and was kept by management. Executive team is mostly white men. Creative industries are close to 50/50 parity resulting in some weird discrepancies in leadership and decision making methods. No connection to key industries and no support to build those connections to support current staff and current and alumni students. Becoming woefully behind the industry

1.0
2 Jan 2023
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Pros

There is really no pros

Cons

Bad communication, too many unnecessary changes

1.0
13 Feb 2020

What WAS a great place to work for

Anonymous employee
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Pros

Before acquisitions and big changes in global leadership the Company was a warm place where to work, teamwork and solid trust were essential elements

Cons

New leader, new chapter for SAE that became just a machine where respect for people, transparency in communication and solid leadership are old fashioned values. People are manoeuvred in a unprofessional way creating tension, pressure and disengagement all over.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 12 Reviews

Glassdoor has 357 SAE Institute reviews submitted anonymously by SAE Institute employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if SAE Institute is right for you.