Pros
I cannot think of any pros of working here.
Kontras
- Mercer is myopic and profit driven, usually at the expense of everything else. - Its strategic imperative is to underpay staff. - Salespeople have, for the most part, operated with little to no boundaries. Consequently, Mercer frequently overpromises and underdelivers. - Profitable in the past, its margins are under pressure as its ability to charge high fees on its superannuation fund and administration businesses is ending due to regulators cracking down on Superannuation fees charged. - Mercer Australia has very little autonomy. Its purse strings are held by Mercer UK and US; who neither understand the Australian business nor the local wages. Decisions are made solely on numbers, which Australia has no choice but to implement. - To satisfy cost cutting directives, Australia is letting veteran staff (ie – those who are on better salaries) go. They are either replaced by cheaper, inexperienced staff or not replaced at all. Everyone is expected to do more with less, even though they are already significantly stretched. - The exodus of veteran staff also results in a loss of corporate knowledge. There is little to no training for new staff, and they inadvertently cause errors which lead to significant problems (eg – incorrect onboarding of new members into the system). These problems do not surface till many years later and require a LOT of money to remediate. Mercer would rather budget to pay fines on SLAs than to invest in upskilling staff. - Staff morale is low and people are voluntarily leaving.