Hays reviews

3.6

65% would recommend to a friend

(5,743 total reviews)
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Mark Dearnley

99% approve of CEO

51% positive business outlook

Hays has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 5,743 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Hays employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Recursos humanos industry (3.8 stars).

Reviews by job title

6K reviews
1.0
Sep 21, 2017

Treat loyal hardworking staff in a disgusting manner!

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Initial training used to be good

Cons

I was with Hays for nearly 20 years and was initially extremely happy. The management changes in more recent years in Scotland mean't unfortunately an ignorant bully is now the MD! They treat women coming back from Mat leave in a terrible manner making it as diffcult as they can for you to return and working on a flexible basis is nigh on impossible. Where it is achieved life can be made very difficult for you. Hays expect 100% if not more from employees which is fine but they give nothing back. Nasty bullying fear culture where consultants are regularly threatened and shouted at in front of their peers.

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Hays Response
8y
Thank you for your review. We take your feedback very seriously and would like to explore this with you further. Could you please get in touch with Trisha Brookes, our Head of Human Resources, on +44 7525889960 for a confidential discussion. Thank you.
1.0
Jun 11, 2017

Demotivating and Toxic

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great, friendly and hard working team in the department. The people keep you in the job not the job or company itself.

Cons

Micromanagement and NO PRIVACY. Normal 8.30 to 5 working hours not enough for the workload. unrealistic expectations. Playing favourites with current managers who are lazy and only good for passing work to already overloaded staff! No reward, recognition or appreciation for hard work. Very toxic and demotivating environment.

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Hays Response
8y
Your review is really disheartening and although I do not work for payroll in Sydney, I have a few friends that do and as such am very surprised to hear you think the environment is toxic. Regardless and out of respect for you taking the time to share your thoughts, I have passed your comments onto the head of HR to review and action accordingly.
1.0
Dec 7, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Training at the beginning was excellent, 2 week long trips in London If you're willing to act like a robot and take stick constantly there is clear career progression

Cons

Management is autocratic, and holds very old fashioned views on recruitment methodology. Extremely KPI driven, obsessed with call numbers Claim to support, but really just berate staff who aren't doing well Salaries and commission structure terrible compared to other recruitment companies No flexibility on anything Top heavy structure - Directors everywhere who don't appear to do a lot Expected to work late and start early - appearing to be working is valued higher than actual work

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Hays Response
9y
As you've taken the time to share your thoughts, allow me to provide you with some information relating to your 'cons';. Management is autocratic, and holds very old fashioned views on recruitment methodology - I've never heard of our culture being described as autocratic or old fashioned. I've personally spent time in the Brighton office and find all levels of operations to be collaborative and forward thinking. Extremely KPI driven, obsessed with call numbers - We are a performance driven business with expectations attached to KPIs and generally speaking, if you're performing well, your KPI numbers will not be challenged. If you're not performing well we will ask why targets have not been met. This is normal in all sales cultures. Claim to support, but really just berate staff who aren't doing well - Again, I have never seen this approach in any of our offices but if you feel you personally experienced this I would suggest you and I speak and I would need further information to support this claim. Salaries and commission structure terrible compared to other recruitment companies - I disagree. Our salaries are competitive and our commission structure is one of the best on the market in large scale recruitment companies. Granted, boutique agencies will offer a higher % of commission but with that comes limited brand exposure when trying to develop business. No flexibility on anything - I'd suggest giving me more detail on this point - Are you referring to hours of work, locations, annual leave, benefits? Top heavy structure. Directors everywhere who don't appear to do a lot - I believe there are only 3 directors in Brighton and they run the entire business. I do not think this is top heavy. To add, our directors (bar 1) are all fee earning so they are certainly doing work. Expected to work late and start early. Appearing to be working is valued higher than actual work - Our standard working hours are 8.30am to 6pm. This is neither late or early in the grand scheme of the world of work. I trust the above has put things into perspective for you however should you wish to discuss this further please contact me on 0203 465 0202. Thank you & all the best.
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