- Certifications are internal only. The educational opportunities may be great, but they don't count for anything outside of Encore. There are no industry standard certifications available, only internal certifications.
- Pay is not competitive. Granted, we're employees, not contractors. Even so, I think the pay is still too low, even at management. There's not much financial motivation to retain employees. Perks do not outweigh this.
- Overworked on-seasons and neglected off-seasons. Granted, the industry itself is seasonal, but when I speak with people who work with other AV companies and share my experience from Encore, they are surprised at how overworked we are during season. I imagine this is partly to compensate for our low wages, but it is a very difficult life for most of the employees I talk to. As for the summers, there will be always be talk at annual meetings from management about how "this will be the year" when more hours are provided during the summer because of a new program. But many of the promises are left on the table.
- Hiring decisions. Time and again, I've seen the obvious choice for a role (the responsible, experienced person working hard for the promotion) passed over in favor of someone else less qualified and other scenarios similar to that. I don't understand the rationale behind many of the decisions coming from higher management, and it seems that there is large disconnect between the upper management and the lower employees leading to a lot of ill decisions.
