5y
As a company that really strives to build and develop people, we're sorry to hear you had a negative experience. If there are any situations that you would like to discuss privately in more detail, we are always open to talking—just email careerdivision@tomjames.com. If there are any scenarios where we haven't upheld our principles and values, we would want to know and address immediately.
Without being argumentative, we do like to take the opportunity when relevant to point out to any potential readers feedback that is factually incorrect. While we appreciate feedback of any variety, it's also important to be factual:
- We have never communicated a hiring philosophy of "hire 5 and 1 will stay". Our average investment per hire in terms of training expense is approximately $25,000 in the first year, so this would be a very unprofitable strategy. Our actual hiring philosophy is "we build people", which means our intent with everyone who joins our company is to work diligently alongside them to help them achieve what they want from the opportunity.
- No Tom James employee is required to invest in anything, though many choose to do so. All of our basic training and resources are covered for new employees. Our stock program is voluntary and not required. While we offer heavy employee discounts on our products, we do not require them to purchase them.
- MLMs by nature are companies that build revenue through representative fees in addition to actual product sales. An MLM will typically charge for training/conferences, offer no benefits, hire only 1099 contractors, and in some cases require representatives to commit to purchasing a certain amount of product. By contrast, Tom James covers training 100%, including two week-long international conferences to locations like the JW Marriott-Marco Island or, this year, the Hilton Downtown Austin. All expense paid for the employee. We provide fully comprehensive medical coverage, a robust benefits program, and our employees are W2'd employees. We offer a traditional 401(k) matching program, employee ownership, and also a profit sharing program where we share our profits back to the employees at the end of each year. Yes, we are a direct sales company, but absolutely no, we are not an MLM or pyramid-style company.
- Our average incomes by tenure group are much more robust than $50-70k. Average income for year 1 folks is $52k. Year 2 is $62. year 3 around $75. The 10-15 year category referenced above averages $140k as a group.
Thank you again for your comments, and please reach out directly if there are particular situations you feel we should investigate more closely.