I've been with the city for more than two decades. Good things - contributing to the community, good work schedules, vacation and EDOs. Benefits for CSU staff are pretty weak (for example - no coverage for glasses), and the incident based sick policy is odd, but better than nothing. That said, culture varies widely by branch and department. Transportation, Finance and Community Services have good and bad pockets, while Corporate Services is a very bad place to be. Seems like Sustainable Development is starting to follow Corporate Service's lead. Current Planning Service Centre is especially brutal. Lots of temp staff, eratic managment, favoritism, backstabbing, and micromanagement.
I'd advise anyone with another option to stay well away from all of Corporate Services and to approach the other departments carefully, do your homework and don't be afraid to leave if you find yourself in a bad area.
Generally speaking, it seems like the overall environment in the City is getting worse for employees, and it no longer appears that staff are valued - it's all about how much the management can squeeze out of you. Also an increasing focus on metrics more than production. And these metrics are being analyzed by management who mostly don't understand the work. It's not a good combination.
I have also seen an increasing number of people singled out and treated horribly by this organisation for little or no apparent reason. Sexism is alive and well in a good number of branches, and in some areas harasment (often by managers) is the norm, and when it happens 9/10 nobody dares report it because they will be made to pay in the end. It's sad - I used to feel proud to work for the City. Now I try to avoid telling people where I work.

Posted on 16 August 2015 by Rater #14 | Flag as inappropriate

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