Where do I begin...
- Meh management
- Apathetic corporate
- Low pay for high demand, stress, and hours
I worked in the Flatiron location, just a few floors below Equinox's corporate offices, for two years. Management is pressured so highly by corporate, they can help but become micro-managers who hound gym employees of all positions for the tiniest things. Many people become trainers, teachers, massage therapists, etc. here because you think Equinox - rich clientele, high prices, must mean excellent pay? WRONG. You will be expected as a trainer to make monthly goals of training sessions if you want to make anything more than the barely-above-minimum-wage hourly rate. You will also be given "blue shirt" shifts, in which you are inconveniently scheduled 3-hour shifts (again... minimum wage) to walk around the gym and put weights away. The ridiculous part is you won't be able to request your blue shirt shifts to be scheduled together so you aren't wasting your time with giant holes in your schedule, or have time for, say, a job that actually pays your bills? You will be forced to have them spread throughout the week with no regard to your well-being beyond the gym doors. Don't dare let them catch wind you train people outside either, if you don't want to be fired. Same goes for membership advisors: if you aren't someone who can spend their day convincing people into spending their money, I wouldn't do it. Bonuses are only received if you hit (high set) goals. You spend your day in the office emailing and calling "prospectives" when you aren't giving the same schpiel & tour for the 10the time that day. Many are fired for not consistently hitting goals only months after being hired. Don't expect much sympathy from management or corporate; the employment of Equinox is a constant revolving door, they know most employees won't stick and others will quickly replace those who've left. As someone who worked the front desk for two years, I can tell you: you will be treated the worst by management, trainers, teachers, corporate, and members alike. You face the brunt of members constantly, as you are the face of the company. You are expected to know and hold responsibility for many things not covered in training, often problem solving on your own because managers leave you to figure it out yourself - then conveniently forget how hard you work when you don't want to work there every day. If you plan on working front desk just for the membership and want time to work a job that actually pays a livable wage, talk to the front desk location to location if that's a possibility. My location began that way, but after we hired new managers, they began expecting everyone to give at least 5 day availability. While it's fairly common knowledge among New Yorkers that the steam rooms of Equinox gyms tend to host public hook-ups, it's the toxicity of the employee fraternization I warn prospective employees to be aware of. It's very likely it will become common knowledge at work, if that's not your cup of tea. I would be very wary of it, and don't be an idiot and hook up at the gym. Overall, my advice is Equinox is a poor employer. If you can stick out the unfair office politics, high stress, lower pay, verbally abusive members, and constant worry of being fired for the first reason they can scrounge up, go for it.
