Poor Management, Poor Pay - Member Service Representative The Y (YMCA) Employee Review

1.0
Aug 18, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Co-workers are great people, and I guess you get a free membership.

Cons

The organization is run very poorly. Most of the problems that we can think of start and end with management and their horrible communication. How much people dislike management, and the job in general, is an almost daily conversational topic. The Y's are all incredibly understaffed and so we're expected to pick up extra shifts (at any branch in our half of the city) to cover for management's poor scheduling and then we get in trouble for having overtime because we weren't supposed to take it. To make matters worse they are cutting hours at the busiest locations, and adding shifts at the smaller locations (that already complain about not having enough work to do) because now the larger locations don't have the staff to answer the phones and they need someone to answer the overflow calls. There is no room for growth within the company, and they will 90% of the time hire an external applicant instead of a more qualified internal applicant. Usually, this is to replace one of the few good managers that left because they were also sick of how poorly run everything is. There are also tons of "safety" policies that are out-dated and only serve to breed conflict. Naturally as Member Services we are expected to diffuse conflict while also enforcing the same rules that create the conflicts in the same place. Then, while we enforce these same rules that we can be fired for not enforcing (as we are reminded often) the managers will just walk in and cancel the rule on the spot just to avoid conflict. Suddenly, instead of enforcing the rules we just look like the rude employees that are trying to make things more difficult for everyone. On top of all that (and more) we are severely under payed for the amount of abuse we receive from customers and management itself. Most of us are so sick of being at the Y we don't even have the will to use our memberships because we can't stand the idea of being here for any longer than we have to be.

Explore other reviews about The Y (YMCA)

5.0
Jun 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great communication from supervisors and staff. A very welcoming environment, making it easy to reach out and ask questions if needed. Overall, a fulfilling experience.

Cons

I have no complaints from my experience. Come to work energized and mentally prepared as working with youth takes a lot of energy!

3.0
May 28, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The team members/ coworkers and administrator (team lead) that you work with on a day-to-day basis are the ones who will make or break the experience. Obviously working with children, one must have patience, be flexible, creative - there are some days that test all of those skills! lol! But when you have a great teaching team to work with, your program can run like a well-oiled machine. I loved the time I had working with this program!

Cons

The pay is very low, I do understand with the YMCA being a non-profit, but at the same time when a position is responsible for young children, the pay should be higher than a fast-food chain, to attract and keep higher caliber staffing. - If you already work at a school, it's not a bad gig to make some extra money for coming in a few hours early or a few late. But if you are driving more than 5min, to work 2-3 hours for a ridiculously low rate I would say pass. I was not doing this for the money - I truly loved my coworkers and the kids that attended my school. Unfortunately, some of the other cons are: poor communication (very poor), lack of SOP's when it comes to how teachers should be handling situations for their own personal safety and unrealistic expectations (of us to do marketing, surveys collecting demographics, and pushing for financial donations). The last few things listed is what ended up driving me to resign.

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