- Culture of 'work hard, play hard', which roughly translates into the expectation of working 60+ hours a week, 7 days a week, for low base pay. EF doesn't operate in the traditional model of commission-based sales pay, so half whatever they tell you to expect in bonus pay.
- Healthcare benefits were so stripped down that it doesn't technically qualify as state-approved healthcare coverage.
- Little room to grow, get promoted, or make more money, even if you consistently hit 100% or above of your sales goals. In an initial interview, a manager told me there was no room for promotional growth and they were looking for salespeople to stick around for 1-2 years -- this seems to be true across the board in most departments.
- Disconnected and untouchable management. Lack of direction, inspiration, or leadership all around -- untrained and unprofessional. Any mistakes would go unacknowledged or be pushed onto the sales staff to solve.
- Training was almost non-existent, but we were expected to hit sales goals immediately. Sales goals were set arbitrarily, and the pressure coming from higher up increased management issues on a team level.
- Poor organization and lack of ethics when it came to customers. We were encouraged to bend the truth to our customers or ignore them in favor of getting more sales, especially in high season. In high season, the company overbooks locations and shifts blame onto customers for 'unreasonable expectations'.
EF's stated goal is 'opening the world through education', but the business model seems to very clearly be hitting the goal of 'making the Hult family as rich as possible' at the cost of employees and customers, so why change anything? No amount of feedback will change their business model.