Toxic culture and poor pay create constant employee strain
Pros
When I started, this company seemed like it had everything figured out, but that illusion disappeared pretty quickly. It has become painfully obvious that corporate leadership and regional management do not actually care about the people keeping this place running. The only things they care about are surveys, reviews, optics, and protecting appearances. They constantly pretend to support their teams, but the moment anyone is honest about problems or asks for real help, we get told to “watch what we say” so managers do not “look bad.” Apparently protecting egos matters more than fixing actual issues. The entire culture feels built around making leadership comfortable instead of solving problems. Everyone is expected to smile, stay quiet, and help maintain the illusion that everything is fine while the same issues continue getting ignored.
Cons
I think it is incredibly telling that your own employees cannot even afford to live at the properties they work for because we do not get paid enough to qualify. On top of that, rent has to be automatically deducted from our paychecks, removing any flexibility for employees to budget their money the way they need to. Health insurance costs have nearly doubled since last year, and employees who already struggle to afford living expenses are also being hit with steep renewal increases. Meanwhile, raises are either nonexistent or so small they feel insulting compared to the rising cost of living and increasing workload. On-site positions are constantly being dissolved, and the strain is dumped onto the few employees left behind. Some properties are being run by only two team members who are expected to work tirelessly all week during office hours while also covering weekends at other understaffed properties. Leadership loves to encourage employees to “take time off,” yet creates an environment where doing so is nearly impossible. That makes it very clear that work life balance is nothing more than a talking point. At the same time, the company continues pushing this corporate AI agenda while removing crucial team members and forcing properties to rely on questionable startup screening companies just to save money on the back end. Then leadership acts surprised when occupancy across the portfolio continues to decline. What is most frustrating is that the blame still somehow falls on the on-site employees who are already stretched thin and doing the jobs of multiple people. Instead of accountability from upper management, employees are interrogated, micromanaged, and threatened with disciplinary action over the direct consequences of leadership’s own decisions, lack of transparency, and complete disregard for both their teams and their residents.