City of Calgary Reviews

Pros

Good health plan, interesting work, free gym, no complaints.

Cons

Lack of upward mobility sometimes, high expectations.

Pros

I worked my way up from casual-on call to a salaried FT position in the Arts & Culture/ Festival and Events office. I last worked there from the 1990's until 2021. This particular office was highly unusual within the City as the demands of serving and producing large scale events can run counter to most union civic employee based job schedules or restrictions. The work can be fast paced with immovable deadlines and high visibility, high pressure work situations. The event happens when it happens, sometimes in front of the televised world. That being said the team there is very dedicated to producing the best quality for an often very small budget. The team are very resource aware and work together well. Management were mostly fantastic and really worked at supporting a great team centred work environment focused on high productivity and excellent work life balance. In my experience, within the city, it was one of the best overall departments to work in.

Cons

Over the time I was there the main issues arose from specific management changes. Some were terrible and self serving but most were fantastic and really worked at supporting a great team. The other issues all had to do with navigating the inevitable daily bureaucratic environment outside our specific office.

Pros

reasonable pay, good benefits, learning opportunities

Cons

heavy workload, ever changing reporting structure

Pros

Benefits were nice. Dental cleanings and massage.

Cons

The foremen treated employees like they were criminals and had to be chastised all the time. Terrible treatment. Bullying is an accepted strategy for management to get rid of an employee, I've never been around so many people who could be that nasty before. Twilight Zone.

Pros

I had not enough experience to comment about pros. Few ones I can recall: very good benefits ( that was told to me) good pension ( don't have any experience with this as well) all these pros are what I've heard from others

Cons

Be very cautious if you are being hired for a union exempt role. If someone is applying for union exempt role and is being hired outside of the city employee pool, be very very cautious. They won't give you a chance to discuss and review you during your probation. You could be fired in minutes.

Pros

Growth, training, independence, professional, paid overtime.

Cons

Demanding, high stress, no parking, commuting.

Pros

Pay was really good for the job

Cons

Managers were awful and don’t have the skills to manage

Pros

Dynamics environment so lots of variety in work. Good salary, benefits and work life balance.

Cons

Leadership is sometimes a hit and miss. I had great leader for 5+ years and then two not so great. Some delays in decision making depending what area you work in.

Pros

Able to work when needed, you can select your days a week in advance. Great atmosphere, teamwork, help is always available.

Cons

Sometimes the systems freeze and can be slow sometimes.

Pros

Pay is extremely good for what you do

Cons

Managers are not very good