Dream Big...Live Small - Human Resources Specialist Vail Resorts Employee Review

2.0
Jan 4, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

For most, the season pass for snowboarding and skiing is the draw. Certainly, if you are able to take the time off, it is a valued asset. Some of the people you meet become good friends. Enjoying winter sports in some of the most beautiful areas.

Cons

The list is too long. Some of the highlights: *Poor management *Too much work to get done in a short amount of time, with unreliable/limited resources *Terrible, non-existent exit strategy or procedure for seasonal employees (corporate) *HR is a numbers game that's totally focused on volume and not the individual *Complete disregard for new Colorado laws that legalize use of recreational medication *Managers who are judgmental and critical of candidates and fellow employees *Managers who openly practice favoritism among employees, based upon trivial criteria *Managers/Leads of departments who are power-hungry bullies who push people to obey, not to succeed *Nepotism to such an elevated degree, it's difficult to believe that room for advancement even exists for those outside of the 'cliques' *Total disregard for employees who work at the resorts. Long hours, low pay and ungrateful managers, who threaten employees constantly with losing their job, thus the winter pass *Emphasis on implementation of timely, costly projects that don't work *Unrealistic expectations are placed upon employees and then they receive terrible performance reviews, that almost guarantee NO advancement or re-employment opportunities *This company is openly biased to snowboarders *Promises, promises, with no intention of owning up to them *Employees are treated differently across the board. Example: uniformity during season's end in HR are non-existent. Some employees receive exit interviews and a performance review; some do not. *Too many to list

Explore other reviews about Vail Resorts

5.0
Jun 12, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The managers were really cool and the work was fun. Pretty relaxed environment.

Cons

It was cold sometimes and long hours standing but that was all in the job description and we got jackets.

2.0
May 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Most people are smart, passionate, and enjoyable to work with and be around. - Fairly frequent opportunities for development and advancement through the internal job board. - Nice perks if you're into skiing or riding.

Cons

- There's an unspoken expectation to regularly work significantly more hours because the majority of employees are very passionate about the ski and ride industry, which isn't great for work life balance. There's not much down time either; you're either hustling in season or hustling to prepare for the next season. - Climate change poses a significant threat to the future of the company. The season pass model mitigates some of the impacts, but not as much as senior leadership asserts. And, since bonuses are tied to company results, you can end up working super hard all year and still end up getting half of your bonus target due to uncontrollable weather conditions. - The culture has taken a serious hit since enterprise transformation work began. Lots of people are constantly stressed out and the atmosphere in the office is depressing. - Most of the time, it feels like senior leadership makes decisions in a vacuum without consulting any of the people that would be responsible for the downstream work associated with the decision. For example, I've seen senior leaders decide on a savings target multiple times without consulting the experts, who then have to scramble to figure out how to make it work. It creates chaos and negatively impacts morale. - This organization has a wordsmithing problem. I've never worked at a company that spends such an inordinate amount of time on the framing of a message compared to the actual substance of the message.

4
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