Pros
Some of the nicest people you'll work with anywhere below middle management! Some pockets of interesting work, but increasingly hard to find.
Cons
BIg restructure underway. Very uncomfortable stage of process. HR Is weak and don't feel like partners. new contracts are issued really slowly after weeks and lots of people are working for long periods without technically being covered by contracts; sense is often that you're bothering staff if you go to them for help and hard to find someone who knows how to advise you on benefits and policies; department not somewhere you would trust with personal issues. Don't know any staff who got an induction except for in the shops. Really tough to know how to do things if you have an unattentive manager. Lots of the positive reviews on this website seem to be from people in shops which possibly suggests that they actually manage them, which is unlike most staff in head office. Internal training is also hard to come by, especially on policies and managment. Very common for female colleagues who have kids and challenging hours/roles to be told that they can't have flexible working, they should probably not go for promotions because they have children and can't travel etc by bosses before it even gets to HR. Maternity policy doesn't seem to exist for women on fixed term contracts which are really common in the organization (and sector). Very common to hear about my female colleagues being told not to be too 'emotional' when they try to raise issues with how they are treated by organization or colleagues- also experienced myself. Heard very strange comments about gender work by senior leaders. Head office is surprisingly undiverse and seems to attract tons of new staff who are under-experienced from other sectors and captures people wanting to stay in Oxford which isn't always best people for org. so is sense that many friends hire friends who don't want to commute to London (head hunting or paying consultants). No people strategy in Oxfam for years so bosses rely on good will of staff who are smart and caring people working til burn out as workloads are way too high. Know dozens of colleagues who burnt out and left on really unhappy terms- managers really missing something here. Bullying is another reason lots of colleagues have talked about for leaving and it's often not dealt with well. Colleagues in some teams have left a lot of feedback about problems with bosses but people complained about never seem to hear that feedback and then eventually they leave of their own accord after loads of their line reports have already left Oxfam. When you talk to people you know well is really clear salaries aren't even across pay bands, and different divisions and people from outside always get more money for the same jobs because internals have no negotiating power. Leadership don't convey that they listen to staff or value them - real sense that a lot of senior leaders are in it for themselves, which you wouldn't expect at Oxfam. Also hard to know what they value themselves other than achieving the restructure. Hard to find seniors who are any good at comms.