I'm not sure if this is a result of the new president, some MBA consulting firm (this is my guess), or what, but there has been a noticeable shift in the attitude towards lower level workers/labor at Harvard. There is a massive centralization campaign going on right now across all schools, bringing all the staff further under the umbrella of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. With this change, there has been upheaval in how things are managed. Non-union members haven't gotten a raise in 2 years that exceeds inflation (join a union folks), and we were told this is because the endowment hasn't performed well. Raises are tied directly to how well the endowment performs, and are only tangentially related to performance. In most cases (I'm sure there are exceptions) working harder or smarter will not result in better pay. Many administrative positions are being cut and outsourced to 3rd party vendors. When people leave, their positions are not filled, and the work falls on those left behind. Communication surrounding these issues is extremely poor. Major decisions that will directly impact your work will be decided by 2 or 3 people at the top, and they'll forget to tell you. My guess is they will continue to squeeze workers in order to cut costs. Within my unit, it feels like it's reaching a breaking point.
This is one of the most highly political environments I've ever worked in. Prepare to ingratiate yourself to whoever is at the top of the chain in order to advance your career. Doing good work is not going to cut it.
I have only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to graft and waste, and it is mind boggling. If you get into a place where you can see some of these budgets, your head will spin. The people at the very top use their budgets to pay their friends $$$$$$$$ to do make-work. I believe this is called "networking".
Borderline, there is no culture. Our "retreats" have been things like going to a classroom, and doing a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats chart to figure out how to be more efficient workers.
Overall, I'm surprised not to see any of these complaints more prominently in the newer reviews given the discussions I've seen internally. Perhaps that will change!
