According to a report by the New York Times, current and former U.S. Soccer employees have been anonymously posting scathing reviews of the organization on a networking website called Glassdoor, describing what the NYT report calls a “terrible and toxic place to work.”
The New York Times found the posts and conducted its own investigation, confirming that they accurately reflect feelings inside the organization. They anonymously interviewed current and former employees who described “a culture of fear and intimidation” that has “morale at an all-time low.”
NYT reporter Andrew Das led the investigation and uncovered what he describes as a “behind-the-scenes revolt” that is active and ongoing, with posts flowing onto the networking site even as the U.S. women compete in the Women’s World Cup. The posts began in May, Das reports, and there have been seven new writeups since the start of the event in France.
The reviews were pretty harsh and surprisingly personal. What I didn’t know was whether they were accurate. So I called a few people. They told me to call more.
— Andrew Das (@AndrewDasNYT) June 25, 2019
The Times report details the grumblings within the organization that has become frustrated with a hierarchy dominated by a few longtime executives who have consolidated power and do not delegate tasks to those within.
“Pay is absolutely abysmal. The hiring process is a joke,” wrote one review titled “Dream Job, Nightmare Organization.” “Talented people are getting crushed by this organization left and right, mainly because of being overworked, underpaid, and treated incredibly poorly by the upper management. This results in a lot of current employees doing one or two other jobs in addition to their own, with no pay increase, no overtime, no time off, no title change, and no recognition.”
“Stop taking advantage of people’s love for the game,” the post continued. “Just because we love soccer so much doesn’t give you the right to overwork us to the point where you make us hate it. This was my dream job.”
In a phone interview with the New York Times, an employee called the posts “a cry for help” and said they were motivated by the coming change in leadership with CEO Dan Flynn set to retire and his second-in-command Jay Berhalter - the brother of national team coach Gregg Berhalter - the favorite to take over.
“Nothing will change unless the leadership changes,” the post reads. “Bring in an outside CEO. Please, just stop it with the nepotism. There are still so many hard-working, talented people in the organization that deserve so much better than this. U.S. Soccer has so much potential to be a fantastic organization, but change needs to happen.”
“Executives are more interested in what benefits them rather than ‘making soccer the preeminent sport in America’,” another post reads.
Das writes that he reached out to U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro who said they are aware of the posts but would not comment.