Vantaggi
ARAMARK does give a work-family balance. My line of business has no weekends or nights required. the benefits are great, PTO days (6 a year) and vacation (start with two weeks). You have full support to try ideas to build your business and you are given encouragement to share "best practices". My position as a Food Service Director has a lot of freedom to make decisions, but you are held responsible for them. We enjoy a "central accounting" so that a lot of the paperwork is taken off your plate. This really frees up your day to concentrate on running your business. And that's how it feels, like you are running your own business!
Svantaggi
The bonus structure is not the greatest. It is a once a year objective and is very difficult to meet. They base bonus off of plan, and not prior year. Most managers only receive a bonus every other year, since plan will be high one year and then low the next. The factors for bonus are based on top line, profit, accounts receivable, and retention. I don't agree with having accounts receivable as a bonus requirement since you can not force other large companies that we service to pay at a quicker rate. Another downside of ARAMARK is the amounts of conference calls. I find myself on up to three a week and don't find them informative at all. Aramerk has also decided that all hourly employees should be part time so that they can not get benefits. This is horrible, as Aramark touts itself as a great place to work because we have great benefits. Too bad no one will ever be eligible.