Pros
Equinox is a very well known company in the fitness industry. It is by far the best fitness club chain around. The company is truly committed to giving its members a great club experience - from its well-thought out facility, to its cleanliness to the quality of equipment to the caliber of its personal trainers. The quality of members are great. Most of them are serious about their health and they are friendly and high-integrity folks!
Cons
I would gladly be a member of Equinox Fitness... except I know how the company treats its employees. (I am really not one to complain... really... honestly! I believe that I am a person of integrity and I understand business quite well. I've also been self-employed and been in management before so I understand the importance of numbers aspect of running a business as well.) First of all, the benefits are horrible! If you "take advantage" of the benefits package here, you pretty much end up working just to pay off your medical contribution AND all the deductibles for which you are responsible. Unless of course, you are THE TOP PRODUCER, then you will only give up HALF your paycheck to this aspect. I would guess that Equinox only pays for max 25% of your medical insurance - and the insurance is sure to leave you underinsured! Yikes! So you'll still have lots of medical expenses. Secondly, everyone is expected to work insane amount of hours. Forget the 40-hour work week... you're looking more like 60 hours if you're in club management or a Membership Advisor. If you're a Personal Trainer, a full week is supposed to be 21 hours of actual paid training sessions, BUT if you want to make a good paycheck, you'd have to be Tier 3 and having 30+ paid training sessions. Doesn't sound like much right? But don't forget about creating the 52-week training program you have to create for each potential client and the six-week program you have to create for each client. So you're looking at 45+ hours if you're considered a FT Personal Trainer JUST to make a decent income here. For a health club facility, nothing is ergonomic for its employees!! They are more interested in the aesthetics of the club vs. the safety and health of its employees! Each workstation's keyboard/mouse/monitor placement is so one-size-fits-all! Sounds pretty hypocritical to me! Then there's the aspect of personal time. Management seems to believe that nothing else matters except for your job here. If you have a family, young children, or a personal life... you will be miserable here. The company makes you feel guilty for putting that as a priority. Attrition rate of employees is extremely high! I completely understand the reason. Working for Equinox, at a club location, isn't working for a living.... you're LIVING TO WORK!!! And that my friend, is not a company of integrity.