Hays Employee Reviews about "long hours"

Pros

Work hard play hard ethos and you are rewarded for the work you put in. Really friendly staff and very approachable management.

Cons

Long hours and sometimes a work life balance is hard to find

Pros

- my immediate team were great

Cons

- low pay and long working hours - commission structure is not competitive with wider market. It is worth me pointing out here that I was successful and well regarded in my role - I made very little on top of my base. - awful management, there are individuals who are good at being recruiters who are put into management roles, when they are awful at managing. My first manager bullied me and nothing was ever done because they were a high earner - lad culture and misogyny are commonplace - Employees are treated like children and there is an extremely rigid working structure, if you were ever not at your desk by the time you were meant to start, logged on with phone in hand - this was an issue - lack of benefits - no private medical etc. You do get a piece of fresh fruit though if you hit target! - there is this mindset that is drummed into you from day 1 that you are SO lucky to work at Hays, and that you should never leave. One of my colleagues had worked there for over 10 years and left for a career break - we were not allowed to even give her a card to say goodbye

Pros

Great training plan and very supportive team.

Cons

Salary is very poor - even with your on target earnings and team bonus on top of your minimum wage salary. For a company who openly shares their finances with you and who is very successful and highly profitable, this needs to change. Long working hours of 8.30am - 6pm, however realistically more like 8am - 7pm due to workload. They say they promote flexible working, however if you are a full time employee, there is nothing flexible about it. A very target driven culture, which although will work for some people, it won't work for everyone. I found them de-motivating and made me feel like I was a child being constantly watched over.

Pros

Excellent training Some very nice colleagues Some great senior staff members who are genuinely helpful

Cons

Where to even begin? Flexible working policy is anything but flexible Senior management is often clueless and only get the roles due to staying with the business for years Unfair bias towards certain staff members Bringing people in on more money than existing, experienced staff members Tolerating people who are so unsuitable for the job Awful technology but class themselves as 'forward thinking' Majority of the offices are dumps aside from 'flagship' ones Long hours Commission is a lot lower than other agencies Pointless meetings which take hours of your own time then never materialise to anything Divide in offices So many more...

Pros

Fast-paced , wins and outcomes focused, celebratory environment, financially rewarded for success. Suits driven and ambitious people. Don't need any qualifications or high intelect to succeed. Great training program. I'd recommend for someone starting their recruitment career, while you've got high energy and enthusiam. Excellent systems and database, highly automated. Lots of templates and scripts to utilise. Very social.

Cons

Competitive, employees pushed to beat previous records and targets. Long hours. Poor work life balance. Lots of socialisation outside of work hours with colleagues means it can feel all consuming. Can feel restricted by automation and processes. Pressure to always perform and to play the corporate game. Exhausting.

Pros

A global well-known brand in the industry The overall training programmes are constructive and valuable for personal career development. Talented colleagues to work with

Cons

It is understandable that this is a sales job, However my experience in Hays was awful and probably the worst of my career so far. I appreciated the initial training sessions that Hays offered me but once in place my team was not supportive and my direct reporting manager was a bully and seemed determined to put me down at every opportunity. The way she treated myself and other team members was simply unacceptable. To be a good headhunter, building up self confidence is paramount, rather than criticism and discouragement as well as respecting views or suggestions. Probably the main reason that she thinks you are in the team is because you are helping her to make money and promote her own achievements ! You can't even imagine that she would go the length of stealing a placement that you had worked for, even when there is supposed to be a "Transparency" culture in Hays. Initially I felt that I had a promising future at Hays and that I had the necessary qualities and conscientious attitude to be very successful. Sadly the toxic nature of the environment in my particular team to which my manager was a major contributing factor, led to a very unpleasant experience and was awful and unforgettable. I consider myself unlucky as other colleagues in different teams in Hays were well motivated such as HR, Finance, or Legal which generally have a good reputation in the Shanghai market and the people I met in these teams were more friendly and supportive, and the turnover rate is relatively low. Join the IT & Digital team if you want a life of high pressure and long hours with little reward, managers who question your judgement and go out of their way to criticise and demotivate you.

Pros

Energetic environment with good mix of senior staff and younger upstarts. Opportunity for personal development through several online courses.

Cons

Long hours, low pay, horribly insurance options. I worked 50 hrs per week, not including the one hour lunch that I was rarely able to take, so 55 hrs per week. The base rate was fine on its face but when considering hours worked, the salary was very low. And no opportunity for OT for salaried employees. The insurance benefits were expensive and I always got a 3 figure (minimum) bill from my doctor(s) after visits so out of pocket costs were also very high.

Pros

Flexible working Work life balance Listens to employees Great training and development on offer

Cons

Long hours sometimes Dated office Sometimes management don't abide by the home working policies set and expect others to follow suit

Pros

You meet good people, good team ethics, good first job to streamline customer service and admin skills.

Cons

Zero work/life balance - unnecessary long hours, no flexibility MD admits the pay isn't the best. Most people threaten to hand their notice in to get a payrise. Were made to use own phones and laptops. My new laptop now runs slow and randomers have my number. Lots of meaningless promotions. My last promo payrise was £300. Big spenders. Micromanaging RDs - When lockdown started we were told we would be monitored within an inch of our lives. No ED&I, you're told you need a 'thick skin' because systemic bullying is explained away with 'banter'. Name and shame culture.

Pros

Rapid progression, good culture diverse work force

Cons

Long hours and glass ceiling at a senior level