maintenance technician

leasing consultant

property manager

maintenance supervisor

assistant property manager

Berkshire

This is by far the worst company I have ever worked for.

The culture is built around blame, fear, and protecting management rather than supporting employees. Positive contributions go completely unnoticed, especially within the maintenance department, while even the smallest mistakes are immediately highlighted and criticized. Employee development, recognition, and morale appear to be afterthoughts. The expectation is perfection at all times, and anything less is treated as failure. No matter how much you accomplish, it never feels like enough.

The leadership team constantly talks about teamwork, family, support, and respect, yet my experience was very different. Any assistance provided to you could later be referenced in ways that made employees feel less capable rather than more supported. Over time, this created an environment where trust was difficult to build and many employees became hesitant to ask for help. What was presented as teamwork often felt conditional, and employees quickly learned to keep concerns to themselves.

The Regional Director frequently presented herself as someone who wanted employees to succeed and was available to provide support. In my experience, concerns raised in good faith often seemed to reappear in future criticisms or performance discussions. Rather than encouraging open communication, it created an environment where employees felt they had to be extremely careful about what they said and who they said it to.

The Property Manager, in my opinion, struggled to effectively lead and develop a team. I frequently observed comments about residents that I found unprofessional, particularly regarding low income and affordable housing residents. Rather than creating a culture focused on problem solving, accountability, and teamwork, the environment often felt centered on criticism, assigning blame, and protecting management interests.

What became increasingly clear during my time here is that employee well being, resident satisfaction, and team development did not seem to be the priorities they were presented as. In my experience, there appeared to be a strong focus on performance metrics and bonus incentives. Decisions often gave the impression that numbers mattered more than people, and employees were expected to absorb the consequences. Whether intentional or not, the culture created the feeling that your value was tied more to what you contributed to management’s goals than to your overall performance or dedication.

One example that stood out involved preventative maintenance planning. I raised concerns about the need to perform preventative maintenance on the property’s air conditioning systems before seasonal startup in an effort to reduce avoidable service calls and lessen the burden on the on call maintenance staff. The recommendation was declined due to cost concerns, and I was told that on call work was simply part of the job. In my opinion, this reflected a reactive approach to maintenance rather than a proactive one. Rather than investing in preventative measures that could improve resident satisfaction and reduce emergency calls, the expectation was for maintenance staff to absorb the increased workload after problems occurred.

Work life balance was one of the biggest disappointments. Employees were frequently expected to arrive early, stay late, and place the property’s needs ahead of their personal and family obligations. The expectation often felt as though employees should structure their lives around the company rather than the company respecting the lives of its employees. At the same time, workplace standards did not always appear to be applied consistently across departments. This created frustration and contributed to low morale among staff.

One of my biggest concerns involved the physical condition of portions of the property. During my employment, I personally observed recurring issues involving mice, insects, roaches, water intrusion, and conditions that raised concerns about mold. I documented many of these issues and felt they required greater attention and more permanent solutions. In my opinion, too much focus was placed on managing immediate appearances rather than fully addressing underlying problems. Residents deserve better, and employees should not be expected to repeatedly work around issues that require long term solutions.

What made the experience particularly frustrating was the disconnect between the values promoted by leadership and the reality experienced by employees. Respect, accountability, teamwork, and culture were discussed frequently, but I often did not see those principles consistently reflected in day to day operations. Accountability felt heavily focused on frontline employees, while leadership decisions appeared to receive far less scrutiny.

The only bright spot at this property was the maintenance team. The maintenance staff were hardworking, knowledgeable professionals who consistently went above and beyond despite receiving limited recognition and support. Their dedication, work ethic, and technical abilities deserved far better leadership than they received. In my opinion, much of the property’s day to day success occurred because of their efforts rather than because of management.

After years of military service, leadership experience, construction management, and property maintenance, this was one of the most toxic and poorly managed work environments I have experienced. Morale was low, trust was limited, recognition was rare, and employees often felt undervalued.

Based on my personal experience, I would strongly encourage anyone considering employment here to carefully evaluate whether the culture, leadership style, and work life expectations align with what they are looking for in an employer. The company presents itself one way during the hiring process, but my experience as an employee was very different.

The company severely limits access to computer applications and job abilities. Creating an environment where everything has to go through the property manager or Regional Manager. This slowed or even halted the progression of applications or move ins creating a frustrating work flow. I experienced a toxic environment where teamwork was encouraged, but not practiced. Our office experienced a micromanaging regional manager. Managers will use their subordinates as a scapegoat to shift blame, or to get ahead. Everyone seemed complacent and ok with subpar work. Do what I say, not what I do type of mentality. Constant turn over of staff. Huge turnover of residents, the property is falling apart; however, they don't want to invest in maintenance, let alone improvements. The only decent thing is the pay is higher than average. 

Berkshire employees like myself had many great things. We had good health benefits all the way to 401 K.Our monthly bonuses were always met and split evenly through the entire staff. Berkshire would offer %25 employee discount to live on property which is very convenient since I like to live on site. If we ever had any suggestions for the property or events even though they weren't always approved at least they would take it in consideration. Berkshire's goal was to keep their resident's happy as well as their employee's and by doing that EXCELLENT CUSTOMER  SERVICE is a must.They would always have personal leasing training classes not just online courses just to make sure we were all on the same path.

Working with this company was awful. They expected you to do so much and didn't give any respect back. On top of that the work they asked you to do was too much and it determined your bonuses. The management was ignorant and was very selfish. The manager at the property I worked for would blame every employee and resident before taking the blame themselves. The manager had no motivation nor respect for anyone and only cared about them. No matter how great you would do at your job, even being the top employee it still didn't matter. The stress was not ok and not one person there was helpful. The property itself was awful. Dirty, residents made it seem like it was a section 8 property and Berkshire does not accept that. I could go on and on about this company. Overall I would not suggest to work here nor live here!

A typical day at work involves ensuring that the grounds and exterior of the community are in superb condition.

Meeting with the Assistant Property Manager to review collections on a daily basis and the status of all delinquent and collection accounts.

Meeting with the Maintenance Supervisor to review the status of work orders and make ready units. 

I approve all purchases and payments of invoices.

I wrote realistic budgets and followed the guidelines to stay within them.  

The hardest part of my job is dealing with uncontrollable circumstances that may lead to the discomfort of a resident like a flood or fire.

The most enjoyable part of my job is working with people of all personality types.

One of the main reasons I came to Berkshire was for the culture and work life balance. The base pay is very competitive and you start with 3 weeks of vacation, 6 sick days, 10 holidays and 2 floating holidays - that's 33 days of PTO and shows how much Berkshire values work/life balance! I went from working 55-60 hours every week to about 40-45 hours. During the pandemic, they've added an additional 2 weeks of leave just in case. The regional managers take the time to get to know everyone on the team, not just the property managers. Of course, Berkshire isn't perfect, but I don't think there is a perfect company out there.

 Responsible for maintaining 342 unit property
 Collection of monthly rents exceeding $325K.
 Delivery of 3 day notices to vacate, balance due invoices and following through the entire eviction process.
 Inspection of move outs, preparation of final account statements, and the collection of fees after move out
 Inputting & Maintenance of move ins, move outs, renewals and traffic into Onesite database on a daily basis
 Paying of property invoices & Ordering of supplies, including HAA/TAA forms
 Leasing made ready units and following through the move in process
 Manage all aspects of day-to-day operations
 Facility rental/maintenance.
.

I enjoyed my time with Berkshire . The company gave me my introduction to the property management industry . I already had prior management experience and extensive customer service experience . I revived majority of leasing training through on site team members and from the”training department” virtually .  They give you a decent discount on the rent. Lots of time off. commission from leases,renewals , quartley bonuses , and decent year bonuses . Opportunities. They are very loyal to their employees. Management matters. That’s all I will say. 

I've been a loyal employee to Berkshire for five years and have expressed my interest to grow with to company and have experienced that everyone is for themselves and unless they really like you that's not going to happen. In addition, I went to the extent of transferring with Berkshire where I was told there would be more opportunity was not offered any assistance with my moving cost  when I know for a fact other employees were offered assistance. There are so many other things I can say but I am going to stop here.

Micromanagement
Bad leadership 
micromanagement, micromanagement, micromanagement. 

Very hard to advance. 

Going from a Leasing Associate to an Assistant Manager, I could actually do LESS. I couldn't even finish a lease until my manager looked at it (which, they took forever for EVERYTHING). Reason being: "In case an associate decides to go 'rogue' with the lease"

Clearly, they do not trust their people, thus creating a suffocating environment. 

I was there for a short time, and a better job fell into my lap.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Maintenance technician 52 salaries reported	$26.87 per hour
Leasing consultant 18 salaries reported	$22.33 per hour
Property manager 16 salaries reported	$90,563 per year
Maintenance supervisor 14 salaries reported	$38.61 per hour
Assistant property manager 11 salaries reported	$26.80 per hour

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