Weight Watchers Reviews

Pros

Working with WW members is very gratifying. It is not a job that you can do for the money, but there are benefits to working with members as a leader. I gained leadership and facilitation skills that impact my other work and future opportunities. The trainings were good. Generally the other staff I worked with were nice, but sometimes overworked.

Cons

The pay is awful. WW field staff do not feel valued because of this. This means that some staff who work there for a long time are often tired and grumpy. This is not the case everywhere, but motivation does wane. One must love the topic, seeing people lose weight and be successful to fully love this job.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay field staff more or find more ways to appreciate them.

Pros

The members are so wonderful and rely on your support at their weekly meetings. You get to know your community and be apart of a superior program that works, and helps so many members achieve their health and well being. If you are lucky and get to work with some of the better employees, you are part of a well oiled machine. Otherwise you tolerate the situation or give up the meeting.

Cons

Management examines your retention record. You are responsible to keep every person that joins in your meeting, otherwise you are penalized and can lose meetings. The pay is minimum wage, yet you are expected to work and perform as if you are a salaried employee. The new management procedures do not allow you to work more than 4 hours shifts, so you are forced to do split shifts. There is no compensation for mileage unless you go directly from one meeting to another, which rarely happens. Benefits and full time availability and non existent.

Advice to Senior Management

Millions are made each day on the backs of long term loyal employees, the younger generation is not so loyal.

Pros

Meeting and supporting members on their journey to a healthy weight, and the best part - maintaining their healthy weight. 1/2 price on products (that are generally overpriced to begin with), free eTools, higher emphasis on maintaining weight loss, magazine subscription

Cons

the pay situation for those in the meeting rooms continues to be poor, and any additional pay comes from pushing over-priced products and a monthly-pass which benefits current members but makes WW revenue when these members quit and forget to cancel. Support work outside of the meeting room (online communication, creation of meeting materials/props, etc...) is all off the clock. Closing a meeting during bad weather is frowned upon, even at the safety of staff and mambers, and forget getting sick or needing a sub last minute - almost impossible. Overworked Territory Management, and cut-backs on training staff a few years ago has resulted in inconsistent service provider experiences.

Advice to Senior Management

We recognize this is a public company with a fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders, but doing so at the expense of your field support staff is hurting the member experience. Retain good middle-management, reintroduce some training aspects, and for crying out loud - give those in the field their first pay raise not mandated by minimum wage laws.

Pros

Helping the many wonderful members lose weight in a healthy, livable way.

Cons

The pay is dispicable! No increases in 20 or so years. We are always asked to recruit new employees and then they wind up replacing us. So someone just hired makes the same low pay as those who have worked for years. No presents, even for the holidays. Many hours of unpaid work on our own. This is the cheapest company I've ever heard of.
Turns out that we receive below minimum wage. And the nicer and more loyal you are, you are not recognized. It amazes me that service providers who have a negative personality are still working. Some NEVER smile and are very unfriendly. Even when members tell corporate nice things about us, we never hear it. Only when we do something wrong.
You absolutely can't make a living unless you are one of the very few favored Leaders.
Pay is worse, and expectations of us are higher than ever.
It's all about the almighty dollar for the company, not the people who make it work and are the face in the meeting rooms.
The newer and young employees leave after they find out what they really get paid. How does upper management live with themselves knowing how poorly we are paid. The only way to get 5% of commissions (if you are a leader) is to sell more. 5% is in insult, and receptionists only get 1-2%.

Advice to Senior Management

PAY the Leaders and receptionists more money! Stop only worrying about the stock holders.
Without loyal, caring employees, where would this company be? We are taken advantage of in many ways and fashion. This is not the service vision of Jean Nidetch, our founder. She did pay well and rewarded her employees. Those locations not in NACO receive better pay. My advice is to not become part of NACO.

Pros

There is so much satisfaction in helping someone gain control over the chains of overeating, Watching one's growth as they discover freedom from being the one in control of food rather than food being in control of them. There is great joy in sharing a road or shining the light for somone in helping them find a healthier, happier controlled life.

Cons

terrible pay, no respect, no communication,
It is a sweat shop, we work hard for nothing, where does the money go?
They are changing everything, misplacing the employees who have been loyal and replacing us with new employees who have no experience with terrible training.
The management is no help and we have no where to go for answers, we are told to do something and there is no explanation as to why we are told to.
I have no idea who I can go to and trust for a simple answer to many questions.

Advice to Senior Management

Have safe place for service providers to communicate and recieve answers ti their questions and a safe place to discuss the treatment of their management with out the fear of their distric manager or territory manager's rath.

Pros

The members are wonderful. The weight loss program is among the best I've ever worked with. It is smart, up to date, and effective for members.

Cons

It seems hard to get information about the job. They tell you "You're not working here for the money," which seems to confirm what other reviewers say on this site.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay employees a respectable wage and make company advancement transparent.

Pros

The weight loss program is one of the best in the business. As a leader you are able to make a difference in the lives of the members. Leaders and receptionists are all former members so they have lived the program. Employees must maintain their goal weight in order to work there so they have a real incentive to keep the weight off.

Cons

Pay is terrible. It is based on meeting attendance and commission and there are times when you could be working for less than minimum wage. There has not been a change to the pay structure in over 12 years. Employees are required to check email on their home computer and make long distance phone calls on their home phone, on their own time. In some cases leaders must store large amounts of inventory in home basements. Territory managers are out of touch with their employees and are difficult to work with because they usually work outside of the territory they are assigned to. Employees must maintain a healthy weight within the BMI at all times. If for some reason (i.e. meds, illness, pregnancy) you are over your goal, you are pulled from your meetings and it is difficult to be reinstated. Turnover is very high because the environment is very stressful. Actually member weight loss is considered unimportant by management. Advancement and recognition is all based on product sales. Employees with high member weight loss are not recognized.

Advice to Senior Management

Please give your employees the same service vision you ask us to give the members. Weight Watchers is the premier weight loss company but the pay for front line staff is insulting. Leaders and receptionists work for the company to make a difference, and management knows this and takes advantage of it.

Pros

High quality of life. Interesting work. Company is socially responsible and recently well-designed scientific study showed that Weight Watchers methodology really works. Unlike many weight loss companies that are more focused on short term profit goals, Weight Watchers has stayed true to its goal of providing a comprehensive lifestyle counseling program that incidentally results in long-term meaningful weight loss.

Cons

Pay is low for summer interns in NYC.

Advice to Senior Management

Although I personally received meaningful projects, many other interns did not. So perhaps shrink intern class size.

Pros

Working for Weight Watchers allows you to get free use of Weight Watchers services, E-Tools (online resources), and half price on all Weight Watchers products. Hours are also very flexable.

Cons

Receptionists essentially make minimum wage. You get paid minimum wage for working open hours and make more than minimum wage for working a meeting, but you are paid a flat rate for working a meeting which requires 2 hours of work. You make commission off of product sales and enrollments, but you still end up making minimum wage. There is not a very good chance of getting a raise, as all receptionists make the same amount of money.

Pros

Great co-workers, great members helps me maintain my goal weight.

Cons

Very poor pay, recently announced to employees open on New Years Day, remodeling centers with no respect for employees who are expected to be on their feet for hours. No accommodation made for long time employees who have back or standing issues.

Advice to Senior Management

Talk to your front line staff and treat us with respect. We have had no raises in years and increasing attendance does not translate to a higher paycheck. We all stay because of the members and great co-workers not because we are treated well. The new B2B is cheating at work leaders out of money and the new store model is gimicky at best. YOu are alienating our long time members with all the emphasis on etools exclusively and many older members are completely left out of the loop.