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KinderCare Learning Companies

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Run as Fast as You Can - Field Leadership KinderCare Learning Companies Employee Review

1.0
12 Oct 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You do not work weekends. Salary was not bad and hard to leave. I had some amazing Center Directors, Assistant Directors and Teachers who were so very passionate about their communities and the families they were serving. There are some incredibly special people that work here.

Cons

Hands down this is the worst employment experience I have ever had. I have never seen a team of high level leaders so micro managed the way they are here. Every step. Every minute. Every hour. Every day. The focus is on growth and adding enrollments and controlling expenses. That is all. Not to say that is not important, but there is so much more that matters. Quality of programs, employee development, safety, cleanliness. Equal attention to all is not the focus, despite what anyone says. High pressure to grow enrollments is the premier focus. Teacher pay is not competitive at all and unfortunately that reflects in hiring and quality of teachers in the centers. I do want to say despite that, there are some wonderful passionate teachers in the buildings that care so very much. More competitive pay would help add so many more and create higher engagement for those already there. Voted a Gallup Exceptional Workplace - do not buy into this. You do not matter. You are just a number. KinderCare is not about their people no matter how much they try to sell that. Also to those retail leaders thinking this no night and weekend thing sounds good, be warned. You take this job with this company home. There is high stress and emotion that does not exist in retail. And couple that with the feeling that nothing is ever good enough if you are stuck with growth. It’s a lot. It changes you and not for the better as a leader.

Explore other reviews about KinderCare Learning Companies

5.0
31 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great culture, great people, everyone cares about their work and genuinely cares about their employees

Cons

Limited opportunities for career growth

2.0
9 Jul 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Flexible PTO is a great perk at the corporate level. Friendly and kind culture where people seem genuinely focused on the integrity of the brand and believe in what they are doing. Also being able to work fully remote is a huge plus. Benefits are decent.

Cons

When Tom Wyatt stepped aside as CEO for the President to take over, it was an almost immediate downslide in both quality and consistency. Morale took a huge dive as did profits and our bonuses cratered. It appeared the board realized the issues as well and Tom returned as CEO. Unfortunately the damage has been done and good people were lost. I made it very clear to our Head of People (HR) how terrible the ripple effects of that situation had zapped teams of trust and respect, but she never really seemed to grasp it. Hey, I guess as long as her job is secure and she's happy. This is especially true in the marketing space of the company where management seemed to be so frustrated that it was a trickle down to the team and created real stress and disappointment. In the re-shuffle of talent following people rage quitting, the worst rose to the top. I also watched as the talent acquisition team completely collapsed under the restructure of a long time recruiter made manager who drove everyone she was once peers with out of the organization and my team lost two incredible recruiters because of it. The Director of that team seems aloof to how poorly that looked and perhaps ignores the issue because she is best friends with the person she made a manager. If you lose your entire team in six months after putting someone in charge, newsflash: it wasn't the talent on your team, it was the terrible leadership that ruined a great thing. The quality of hires since have been abysmal and no one seems to care. The IT group continues to deal with empowerment issues and a failure to let their leaders lead. It is a constant start-stop atmosphere with poor and negative attitudes from Directors and VPs because they want a quick fix always and that is never going to bring the results they are looking for. Plus, the company as a whole wants to bring in new hires below market rate all the time and have constant excuses as to why people leave so fast after we do hire them for better offers. The HR Business Partner team claims to be supportive and some bastion of integrity. Whenever I have brought concerns to them they never find a resolution that actually works or one that seems fair (or intelligent for the business) i.e., the horrid pay-scale problems and never doing the hard work that is needed for my own team's suppression of wages vs, paying what is needed for new staff to join our group. Then I saw how they just let the TA team fall apart when I know those people were speaking up and telling them the problems within, but as always, they stood by and did nothing. Again, that team's destruction has led to so much added stress and problems for myself and other leaders in the company. It's all a domino effect.

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