Pros
Global brand name. Some smart and well-meaning co-wrokers
Cons
Where to begin? Firstly, it’s quite a joke for a *HR* company to treat its staff like feudal serfs. Do you think you should generally work less than 60 hours per week? Well you are a slacker who is letting the team down!! Have plans for the evening? Well you better drop them at a moment's notice; if you don't comply expect snarls from your manager (who will invariably be a narcissistic bully) who will also flay you for it at performance review time. There was a procedure for claiming overtime, but it was full of rules and exceptions so you get any overtime payments it will be for MUCH fewer hours that you actually worked. And yes, your manager will growl at you for daring to even apply for paid overtime. The division I was in was run by "Consultants" who were really slimy salespeople, shmoozing with clients and making outrageous promises technical people then had to deliver on in ridiculous time frames. Hence the constant pressure to work all day and night and weekend. Naturally when the targets were met, guess who is off bragging to clients about it over a sea of champagne?! This is no big reveal, but recruitment agencies hype this company as they "look after their people", "invest in their people", "people don’t want to leave Mercer", blah, blah. Well, people DO want to leave, and have been known to walk out at lunch time and not return. The company also craftily has a 3-month notice period, making it harder to leave once you have passed probation. During recruitment, the mangers also bang on about all the training Mercer provides to its employees. While their descriptions very clearly are talking about external training; not long after joining HR will advise you (with a straight face) that what they actually meant by this was on the job training!! Expect a long uphill battle to get onto real training courses, and don’t be surprised if it is cancelled at the last minute. Also you will be expected to continue working while on training courses, with the laptop and VPN the company has so nicely provided to help with your work/life balance (ie all work and no life). So, if you have the narcissistic personality disorder you will probably thrive in and enjoy this environment. If you are honest, hard-working, reasonable and rational – avoid this place like its hell on Earth, because that is exactly what it is!
