project accountant

protective services officer

housing manager

writer

student researcher

Memorial University

My mental health has improved dramatically since leaving my position at Memorial, to the point where I can hardly believe anymore just how bad it was there and how long I stayed.

Memorial hires on contract to keep employees in line, wondering until the end of their term if their employment will be extended. Non-bargaining positions have no set time to convert to permanent, leaving employees in contractual status for years on end. While I was eventually made permanent, contractual status caused much unnecessary worry and instability. It appears that hiring on contract is even more commonplace now than when I started. 

I initially thought my department was just more difficult to work in than average, but Memorial's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic made me realize the problems at the university are more top-down and deep rooted. Memorial operated with a near-constant threat of returning employees to the office with short notice from the start, implying in condescending top-down communications that productivity was suffering at home and it was time for employees to return to "work" (the type of language you would expect from opponents of the public sector in news media comments, not from your own employer). Memorial refused legitimate work-from-home accommodation requests, misrepresented the level of physical distancing that was actually in place with their COVID density guidelines, and dismissed all concerns from staff at all levels about their health and safety, going as far as to say that if you have cold or flu symptoms, you cannot work from home - you must take sick leave and "attendance will be managed". 

Work culture at Memorial can best be described as antagonistic, cut throat and plagued with distrust. There is a culture of blame that runs deep where you can expect to be thrown under the bus on a WebEx call in front of colleagues for nothing at all. Non-bargaining employees can expect to work unpaid overtime, with any suggestion that it be paid per the Guide for Non-Bargaining Employees being basically laughed at .

Memorial facilities are aged and in disrepair. Expenditures on staff amenities is 0. Many workspaces have little or no access to clean drinking water, further restricted in February's return to campus where access to other zones or floors was prohibited. Computer equipment, office chairs and desk spaces are often at their breaking point. 

More than anything, at my tenure at Memorial I became used to all of these things and it was only after I left that I realized life does not have to be this way. I dreaded every morning before work at Memorial, wondering how - like the rest of my team - I'd be criticized and blamed for things out of my control on any given day, wondering about my health and safety with another sudden return to working on campus in tight quarters with poor ventilation and no physical distancing. I have left and never felt better, and have a new job I can truly say I look forward to daily. 

Leadership at Memorial has worsened with its new president, who is much more social media savvy and "engaged" from an outsider perspective but, along with Vice Presidents Council, still very distrusting of staff. You will quickly tire of the condescending language used in communications through Memorial's Newsline and executive. Memorial pays lip service to employee engagement but really it is an environment where you do as you are told by folks who "know best" and that is it. Spending on Marketing and Communications at Memorial is very high, and a lot of polishing goes into employee and public relations, where messaging is heavily controlled, top-down, and has a distinct holier than thou tone I've seen nowhere else. 

Pay and benefits at Memorial is lower than average. Memorial has pay scales particularly for entry level administrative positions that are frankly insulting. Mandatory long term disability insurance is notably expensive, while health and dental coverage is limited and poorly run. The only plus is the defined benefit pension plan, which employees pay handsomely for in biweekly contributions. Memorial's MyHR "help desk" is difficult to deal with, incredibly slow, and often closes cases without investigating or solving issues brought to them, even for simple payroll or administrative issues. Good luck if you have a real problem for them to address. Expect to work additional hours off the books without getting paid, recognized or thanked. In my department, our director would brag about this fact in WebEx meetings, outlining how some people are "working 24/7" and can be reached to fix a problem any time on the weekend. These folks were not in Management/Professional salary scale roles that require overtime without additional pay, they were in the NB group. 

Many reviews here are for student-level positions and work terms. My suggestion would be before you leave your current role for one at Memorial, think long and hard about how your health can be affected by a negative, antagonistic work culture and an unhealthy environment. It is just not worth it. The "human factor" in my former department was just not there - no consideration would go into life events or personal needs- and the level of managerial distrust and infighting was truly overwhelming. 

Lots of silos. Institutional cohesion is lacking. Human Resources practices are archaic and self-interested. HR act as an obstacle to simply work around rather than engage for progressive solutions. It’s 2024, and half of them still work from home and they still can’t retain employees. Maybe self-reflect?
Very much a focus on academic and student service  units while dismissive of non-academic.  Understanding students and teaching are germane to core mandate, however there is no consideration to non-academic requirements and challenges when strategic decisions are made, or policies enacted. 
If you work for an academic unit, life is good. If non-academic, you’re second class. Unions run the operations, Human Resources enable poor behaviours. Memorial University is a dream employer for the unmotivated. If you have management or leadership aspirations and strive for positive change and results, Memorial University will eat your soul. Look private sector. 





Management at MUN make and enforce rules without any common sense. They have a hierarchy and if you are staff, you should be prepared to be third-class employee at best. Management wont support you, they're power tripping egomaniacs. You may luck into a good boss in your working group, but any effort your boss makes to help you will be stifled. You may luck into a good faculty, too, but Medicine are one of the worst and leadership lack common sense.

The budgetary bloat in the university is all held in the over-paid management positions who ruin efficiency, don't celebrate hard workers, don't reward effective units, and generally only care about making sure you know there is no other way of doing things. 

Don't work at MUN if you want any career advancement, a useful raise, or good benefits. They lowered our CPP contributions so that they wouldn't have to match as much, effectively cutting all our salaries.

Place is good only for the crew you work with and the vacation time. Your paycheck is mediocre at best and FM is majorly micromanaged. Salary scale is horrible, trades people should be paid equally. Not based on seniority. That's why the extra weeks of vacation they receive should be sufficient. I seen paychecks from 10 and 15 years ago where the take home pay is the same, or very comparable to 2021. 

A typical day at work was quite busy because of time constraints and the pressure to prepare students for  a difficult exam. I learned that you can transfer your experience to different situations.. The management trusted in  your ability to do the job and my co-workers were congenial and helpful,,The hardest part of the job was the class preparation and correction

Typical Day at work-   Purchasing anything from a gas cyclinder to a Spectrometer for Labs.  

Learned to be a team member and communicate on a professional level with Project Managers and Managers/ Directors 

Co-Workers are great 

Hardest part of the job is maintaining and making sure your orders are placed and following up on them from open to closed 

Most enjoyable part of the job is when seeing a final project that you did all the purchasing for is completed and up and running.

great place

Installed, and serviced industrial pumps, motors, piping components and Water Treatment equipment. Prepare invoices and receipts to clients before and after each service call. Maintained inventory in the warehouse and ordered supplies as needed via telephone and email. Also, I would safely unload and load trucks with supplies and equipment using a forklift while ensuring quality control and documenting as required.e to work, good people, stress freee

A typical day at work is fun since every member of the team knows about other team members day work, so collaboration leads to job success.

I learned to practised HTML and JavaScript programming languages in the field of editing online courses by adding transcripts to videos or sounds to texts.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Excellent working environment 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Delivery able should be in time 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Friendly , cooperative and pieers was help and knowledgeable.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I started at 8 am Finnish at 9 am. Organize my week according to deliverable work.

I worked with minimal supervision. While this was good at times it was difficult at others as i had very few people to ask questions when they came up. I had to teach myself how to use various programs such as Soldworks. Overall this was a fun job, i learned a lot. I also managed to use Ms Excel to come up with an algorithm to deduce pressures and accelerations of the hull.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Project accountant 4 salaries reported	$65,448 per year
Protective services officer 1 salary reported	$95,566 per year
Housing manager 2 salaries reported	$74,571 per year
Writer 1 salary reported	$67,118 per year
Student researcher 1 salary reported	$17.15 per hour

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