Fernbank Employee Job Reviews in the United States

"I've been with Fernbank Museum for several years and am sad to see its current state. The executives and highest-ranking employees show no interest in employees lower on the totem pole. Turnover is very high and morale is very low. I'm lucky because the department I work in is great. We get along and work together well. Money is not being managed well. Most of us have had our pay frozen for almost a decade. We were told the museum couldn't afford raises. The truth is the executives paid themselves back money they would have gotten if their salaries not been cut during the 2008 crash. They fully restored their salaries by leaving positions unfilled, hiring cheap contractors, and leaving bills unpaid as long as possible. One of them admitted to this and said it wasn't illegal. About 25% of it went to FIVE PEOPLE in 2016. This is based on the museum audit and tax return paperwork for that year, both of which are on the museum web site and available to the public. There are around 200 people employed by this museum. Communication between departments is poor. (Ironically, when we said this to the CEO in a meeting, it somehow xerox worse.) It's normal to have to shift schedules at the last minute because no one told security about an off-hours event. The most recent "book signing" -- which wasn't ever advertised -- was so last minute and botched that there's doubt the speaker was asked ahead of time if he was willing to stay and sign copies of one of his books. (He signed a couple then left.) If you're not the person with approval power, then don't expect any of your ideas to be entertained. And people with no experience insist things be done their way regardless of what is most beneficial to the museum or how things normally operate. Don't pursue a job here unless you just want non-profit experience on your resume, can't find ANYTHING else and money isn't an issue."