You are expected to work at an extremely fast pace under incredibly tight deadlines, and even the smallest, most minute projects are classified as extremely urgent. Upper management gets bogged down in micromanaging the minutae, does not trust lower-level staff, and the approval process is unlike anything I have ever witnessed (read: anywhere between ten and fifteen people will need to approve).
The hours are insane (80 to 90 hour weeks, typically 6 days a week, sometimes 7 depending on your department) and the compensation is incredibly low.
Many people run on the fear of "being yelled at", and therefore, you will spend hours worrying about trivial details. For example, one co-worker actually spent hours on a Sunday measuring the distance of the spacing between automated bullets in a word document.
Although an employer could never deny time off, taking days off is extremely difficult. Staff is made to feel guilty, often because there are so many projects going on at once and everyone is overworked. Staff often feels guilty for leaving before 8 pm or taking a day off.
Extremely understaffed. Most positions in normal companies would be broken up over three or four positions.
Pay is incredibly low. Work investment banker hours and get paid an entry level salary (even for middle management). Admittedly because this is MSG and people would do anything to work here.
Long hours affect personal relationships - I go for months without visiting family (who only live 30 minutes away), rarely see friends during the season. Rarely see fiance or friends and no matter how hard you try, distance puts a strain on relationships.
Turnover is incredibly high. Two separate months saw the exit of 80% of staff for two different departments. Somewhere between 40 or 50 people resigned in a 6 months period.
Secrecy from upper management.
