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American Red Cross

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Humanitarian company abuses employees (blood services) - Donor Recruitment Supervisor American Red Cross Employee Review

1.0
Oct 13, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

the mission-we literally save lives

Cons

60-70 hour workweek is not only common, but expected. Hospitals depend on blood supply, but is sometimes very hard to be empathetic when you have been standing in a store parking lot for 5 hours in the rain or the snow begging people to get on the bloodmobile and donate blood. Hospital needs supercede human needs of Red Cross employees and there is absolutely no work/life balance in the Donor Recruitment and Collections departments...we work weekends, all holidays except Thanksgiving and Christmas, and lose vacation time (for which we are not paid) every year....altho office people have 40 hour work weeks, no weekends and can take two week vacations without worrying. The pressure is constant and employees regularly go WEEKS without one day off.

Explore other reviews about American Red Cross

5.0
Jun 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Friendly people and good work

Cons

No cons for this company

2.0
Mar 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You feel connected to a larger mission, and go to bed knowing you did good work. Most of the volunteers are amazing people. The job is a good stepping stone to other disaster management jobs elsewhere. PTO policy is generous and Healthcare is decent.

Cons

You are INCREDIBLY overworked and GROSSLY underpaid. You get zero work-life balance. Even when you're not on call, you'll still get tons of calls from volunteers with questions and concerns. If a volunteer is unavailable to respond to a fire call or tend to any other responsibility day or night, you're on deck. You're salaried, so there's no overtime pay. Your pay barely covers the basic cost of living in today's economy ($40k-$50k). Diversity is bottom heavy, meaning there are lots of employees of color in entry level or lower management roles, but beyond that there's a steep drop off. Most of the volunteers are great, but the Red Cross is so desperate to keep them, that poor behavior and language (racist/sexist/phobic) is not properly disciplined or responded to, if at all. Employee retention is poor, especially in the Disaster Specialist role, because they burn you out so quickly without decent pay.

2
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