retail sales associate

security officer

creative director

custodian

project manager

Meow Wolf

Typical day: it’s hard to describe a typical day because things are so chaotic. The only true consistency is the constant new initiatives and directives corporate rolls out without warning even to the managers leading them to scramble and deal with the fallout. The environment is unstructured and unprofessional without ample support. HR will gaslight and discredit anything you try to report and they are constantly overworking the floor-level managers. Creative work and ideas are constantly stolen.  Hours and positions are constantly being cut. 
What I learned: that I cannot trust a company based on a well-branded image of compassion and “b-corp” status. They are not looking out for you. 
Management: low-level managers are overworked and miserable, I feel bad for them. Mid and upper-level managers are completely detached and have no real grasp on day to day operations or how their decision impacts the rest of the employees. When they make mistakes egregious enough to warrant being called out, they give empty apologies and make no effort to correct their behavior. The CEO is a snake. 
Workplace culture: performative and riddled with nepotism/favoritism. Lots of self back-patting from corporate about how progressive and compassionate they all are while actively union busting and laying off hundreds of people with no warning. 
Hardest part of the job: having your trust and hopes constantly built up only to see them dashed to the pavement. 
Best part of the job: decent pay (at least when I started) and  the associate level teams and ground floor managers can (mostly) be great people.

I loved the day-to-day of my job, helping customers and showing off the amazing art the Meow Wolf team has created. I also had wonderful, skilled, creative, interesting coworkers and kind management that did their best to support us in our jobs. The union is also extremely hardworking and do their best to advocate for the employees.

The problem was that corporate leadership didn't see any value in the exhibit staff. We constantly felt like we had to prove ourselves worthy of our jobs despite salaries that weren't sustainable with the huge variance in hours. Rumors persisted that they were trying to get rid of our department for years, and when layoffs finally came down most of my department was eliminated, as well as a huge part of the exhibit staff as a whole. The exhibit clearly couldn't run well with the new level of staff, and in the months since I've quit I have heard that the problems have persisted. The corporation is hostile to anyone that works on the lower levels, refuses to work as a team with the union, and makes jokes at our expense in meetings in an attempt to seem fun and cool (they often just end up being insulting).

I love the art and community the company has fostered, but at this point it's in spite of the leadership, not because of it. I don't see much of a future for the company unless there's drastic changes made in the leadership team.

I loved my experience at Meow Wolf. I worked there for almost three years, mostly part-time. The company mission, combined with the nature of the work and the interesting people that I got the chance to work with, made it one of my most memorable work experiences...Most of the time I was excited to go to work. At times I felt like I was part of a cult. I worked in a department that wasn't very high up, and wasn't paid well, and so I didn't experience a lot of the poor management that other departments faced, although I got a taste of it towards the end, and have heard from other people that their departments were often very toxic and problematic for one reason or another. But I can't speak to that personally. What I can say is that it was rapidly going through growing pains/idenitity crises while I was there, and so there was a pattern of starting and stopping projects, and generally being very unclear about expectations and goals. Still, I was wildlly passionate about it while I was there, and will always look back on it fondly. 

This place has really great benefits if you are full time, but if you are in a city with their exhibits, they will always prefer a bunch of seasonal or part timers working 5+ days instead of offering full time status. 

This place really gets you so hyped up and excited to work there, but then the micromanaging of not being able to wear fun headbands, socks, or the ability to use your creativity really sucks your soul out. Time and time do not even try to move up in the company. 

As one of my managers told me when I was in month two, "they just know who they want and who they don't want for Creative. They don't want any botom feeders." 

If you take a complaint to their HR team, don't bother. They do nothing and usually will side with a toxic employee. Multiple times I saw employees be forced out instead of handling someone with clear anger issues or some form of harassing others. 

I wish Meow Wolf would go back to what it was supposed to be, a safe space for the weirdos. 

Now its just another corporation exploiting the weirdos. 

A typical day depends on the role, but in marketing, it is filled with meetings, brainstorming, and emails. Creativity and an out-of-the-box approach is rewarded. The culture, regarding the teams and people, is exciting, inclusive, and passionate. Higher management is very disconnected and brutal, which often makes it difficult for compassionate creatives to succeed. There have been a lot of layoffs in the past few years, and the heart of the company is the people who work there, who are not rewarded well in compensation but rewarded in creation and community. The chance of a career path is almost non-existent, and there is no job security, which creates a toxic environment, no matter how nice and fun the other stuff is.  

They try to portray themselves as a wacky punk art collective, but they are currently run by investment firms and ex-Disney suits who are willing to do anything if they think can to make a profit. The lack of diversity, intentionally cruel management, and routine layoffs means that you work in constant fear. Long hours with little to no rewards or appreciation. No credit is given. Often the higher up founding artists will steal or take credit for your ideas or work. There is also a lot of behind the scenes clique-like behavior with certain people forming groups of friends who then try to sabotage and backstab you in order to get ahead. The bizarre documentary they made about themselves in no way portrays who they actually are. 

Completely click based environment. Also if you don’t fit in, then you’ll be gossiped about made fun of right in front of your face.
HR seems not to care at all.
There’s almost no direction at this job.
If you’re new they’ll have you followed around and watched by security constantly like you have a stalker.


They will even go as far as to set up situation’s to try to test you or get you fired.

They don’t trust any new hires and they are very overbearing and will cover for the group that’s been there since the beginning who continues to bully and make fun of anyone they don’t like.

I would not recommend working here. It is  completely unsafe and unsettling.

There is a ridiculous amount of favoritism at this place. 
Also, the security here is so aggressive and over bearing they’re allowed to get away with harassing employees and customers with no repercussions.


What is the best part of working at the company?
The goofy environment and some of the other employees who were not owners or upper management.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Working for a soulless corporation that constantly tells you how great they are and what good they do in the world. They should treat their employees like they treat their upper management. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
They say they're progressive, but they crush most of their employees with corporate nonsense. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Funneling crowds of careless families into an exhibit they go out of their way to destroy. Or, working with "creative" teams that are anything but.

So many problems its hard to describe with words. The art and environment is cool, and my direct managers were kind and tried their best, benefits were good, but the pros end there.  Corporate disarray, over-management, under-management, terrible planning, people in positions they shouldn't be in, drama, broken exhibits with no backup plans, hard to get hours, and more. Working at a customer facing position at this company is a constant game of apologizing  for the broken and half assed experience that cost them $55. Leadership promised solutions again and again but never took action. Easy problems that could have been solved in the first 3 months persisted for 3 years, and persist still. Leadership refuses to admit to the palpable misery and depression that pervades the building. 

The problems with MeowWolf are simple. They were a company that started by wanting to help the art community and the under appreciated, and they were wildly successful. However, it was sold to a more corporate minded CEO, and as most corporate minded people do, they prioritize marginalized profits. Management is some of the worst communicators I’ve ever worked with and I’ve spent most of my time working in restaurants. Regularly forgetting to send paperwork or sending the wrong emails to the wrong people. The floor chart is constantly a mess. They regularly forget to put in vacation time and will schedule you. Documented union busting tactics. I would not recommend working for this company.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail sales associate 3 salaries reported	$18.85 per hour
Security officer 1 salary reported	$21.00 per hour
Creative director 5 salaries reported	$100,800 per year
Custodian 1 salary reported	$19.75 per hour
Project manager 3 salaries reported	$63,333 per year

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