- The big thing and problem with Express is that each office is independently owned and operated. Franchise owners have full discretion in how they run their business. Your experience will depend on what type of owner you have. Some are better and worse than others, and since they allow anyone with money and a pulse, to buy and own a franchise, you can have someone that has no background in staffing, sales, or leadership, which can create a terrible and toxic work environment. That was my experience at the Express office I worked at as far as overall terrible and toxic management. And because each office is independently owned and operated, there is no HR department and overall oversight to report bad owners and employees to, meaning that they get away with their unprofessional behavior.
- They haven't changed and updated their ATS/CRM since the late 90s/early 2000s and it shows. If you're coming from another agency, you will be blown away as to how bad and backward their ATS, technology, and processes are.
- The universal theme across all offices is: low base pay, no health insurance, no PTO/sick leave to start as that slowly accrues over time, no growth opportunities. If you're at a small office, you're effectively stuck as a recruitment specialist forever with small raises 100% at the owner's discretion.
- Typical of many nationally run agencies these days being that its a very heavy sales-oriented position, focus on metrics (number of sales calls, etc.) above actual results.
- The industrial/operations jobs are awful. Low paying meaning low commissions. One has to place well over 100 of these candidates a month and hope they stay employed in order to make the small commissions.
I would only recommend it if you're looking to break into HR/recruiting for the first time, or you're desperate for anything (given the recruitment industry at the moment, it's understandable), but Express is definitely not the kind of place to stay long term, grow, and make money.