I know some people will jump on the Merlin bashing bandwagon, because it gets likes, but to be fair to Merlin, I think they will do their best to look after the staff who’ve lost their jobs at the Spa. If you speak to people who’ve worked for Merlin, they’ll generally tell you that Merlin are a good employer.
They’ve lobbied the government not to raise the minimum wage, because they want to provide as many jobs as possible, and they know that when the minimum wage goes up, they can’t provide as many jobs.
They hire a lot of 16 and 17 year olds, because they want to give people their first job and get them going in the workplace.
Most of their staff are on zero hour contracts, because they know that people like the flexibility.
If people turn up for work and the park’s quiet they’ll get sent home without any pay, because Merlin knows that people always enjoy a surprise day off.
A few times a year they’ll ask staff if they want to volunteer to come in on their day off for a four hour unpaid deep cleaning party. These are great ways for people who want to have a career with Merlin to stand out from the crowd, and at the end of the four hour unpaid deep cleaning party, managers will generously surprise the staff with some bags of free donuts.
They’ve outsourced a load of jobs at Aramark, because they know that people want a choice in who they work for.
They’ve slimmed down the management team, to give their frontline employees a chance to be more independent.
They deliberately don’t invite all the staff working for concessions to the staff parties, to make sure Merlin employees feel extra special.
They serve chicken nuggets and fries in the staff canteen every day, because they know that this is what young people like to eat.
They send managers around shouting at people to work faster, because it’s very motivational.
It’s their company policy not to call the police or support investigations when staff are assaulted, to make sure employees don’t have the trauma of going through a court case.
If staff are sick three times in a year they get a no re-hire status, to make sure people aren’t having to work with ill colleagues.
Unlike other parks that give staff their free tickets straight away, Merlin make staff wait for the end of their probationary period and for their manager to get round to giving them an appraisal. Staff appreciate the free tickets more if they get them half way through the season.
Merlin make sure their staff don’t have too much training or empowerment, because they don’t want to overburden staff with extra responsibility.
They constantly badger staff working on the rides to upsell Fast Track tickets, because they know that most workers relish the challenge.
When you look at the bigger picture, Merlin has a really strong track record as a top class employer. I expect the CEO is personally involved with mentoring the staff and giving them career advice.
In fact, some of the comments on here are a bit embarrassing. People obviously have no idea about the Merlin company culture. I’d say Merlin feels more like a big family than a workplace. I’m sure the CEO and the directors lie awake at night worrying about the staff they’ve let go. For them, getting rid of staff, is like getting rid of your gran.
