Don't. Just don't. - Youth Department The Y (YMCA) Employee Review

2.0
Jun 21, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You do get a free individual membership.

Cons

Nobody is ever allowed to be full time unless they are members of the Reilley family or friends of that family. And if you ever displease any of those full time employees - even if you're not on the clock! - you will be written up. Managers bill full time hours, but are "working from home, (read: getting pedicures and massages and going out to lunch)" leaving untrained staff to handle everything AND get blamed for everything that goes wrong, including the entire budget of the organization. Seriously. People who make $12-$13 an hour are told that the Y can't afford to give them more than 28 hours a week, but four members of one family are pulling in a total of almost one million dollars a year (oh, and awarding contracts to their family friends!) for their "executive leadership." The facilities are physically falling apart because of contracts awarded to friends of the family who runs the association for substandard work and substandard materials (seriously, the floors are literally peeling up because house-grade materials were used for an industrial-grade application, and almost a quarter of a million dollars was spent for "improvements" at one branch that had to be completely ripped out and re-done). Did I mention the forensic audit that the Board commissioned that was hidden from Y-USA?

Explore other reviews about The Y (YMCA)

5.0
Jun 28, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great team and fun place to work

Cons

Not really any I can think of

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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