grounds crew

assistant

research intern

membership sales

intern

The Morton Arboretum

The Morton Arboretum’s shift in core values—from the original five to the newly reworded list—feels less like progress and more like an attempt to repackage the same issues under different language. Notably, Take Ownership has been removed entirely, which is concerning given how often accountability was lacking during my time there. In my experience, this absence isn’t just symbolic—it reflects a pattern of leadership failing to take responsibility for systemic problems and instead placing blame on staff.

The Arboretum’s long-touted value of inclusivity has always felt largely performative. While the organization promotes diversity in its messaging, the reality is that both staff and membership remain overwhelmingly white, with little meaningful effort made toward changing that. During my time there, I saw no substantive initiatives, no measurable benchmarks, and no real accountability surrounding diversity and inclusion. Leadership frequently spoke about being inclusive, yet the workforce and decision-making circles stayed homogenous. The gap between stated values and actual practice was stark and discouraging.

Teamwork at the Arboretum also exists more in theory than in practice. Leadership is fragmented, with supervisors from different departments disagreeing openly or working at cross purposes. This disorganization leaves staff unsure of who to turn to for direction or support. The newly phrased value, Together, we thrive, feels especially disingenuous when internal divisions and poor communication make collaboration difficult and stressful.

Professional development is similarly lacking. Though the Arboretum claims to value curiosity, experimentation, and learning, upward mobility is limited, and genuine mentorship is rare. The focus is almost always on immediate tasks rather than long-term growth. Employees in lower-level roles are often left to navigate challenges alone, which contradicts both the former value of Keep Learning and its newly expanded variation.

The rebranded value Think forward also rings hollow. Instead of anticipating staff needs or improving internal culture, the organization tends to patch problems superficially or ignore them entirely. HR does not meaningfully address concerns when they are raised, which leaves employees feeling unsupported and unsafe.

Despite the stunning natural environment, the workplace culture is tainted by gossip, cliques, and departmental silos. The Arboretum publicly champions resilience and diversity, yet internally, it struggles with transparency, cohesion, and respect. The benefits and occasional pay increases are positive, but they don’t offset the emotional toll of working within a toxic, unsupportive structure.

In the end, The Morton Arboretum may offer a beautiful place to visit, but as a workplace, it falls far short of its mission and values—both old and new. If you value accountability, growth, and a healthy work environment, you may want to look elsewhere.

Multiple layers of overlapping management and extranneous roles like, Benefits Specialist, Donor Procurement, Interpretation,  (still have no idea what this dept. does). No shortage of snooty entitled types. Bloated IT, Research, and Marketing departments,  I observed a handful of people that do all the work, like grounds, kitchen, facilities and janitorial, and then there are the other 90 percent that play on their computer all day and pretend to be doing something important. As a non-profit the arboretum enjoys all the perks that come with that status: financial grants, and volunteers (mostly seniors with too much time on their hands) and seasonal employees are milked for all they are worth.  Wasted a lot of company time on online web training and some other online BS called "TREES".  Blank check attitude for guest speakers, building remodels, and exhibits, no matter how unecessary.  The arboretum has less than 200 employees but has the alienating feeling I imagine employees experience at companies 10 times larger. That also have many of the same pitfalls found in much larger companies IE hard to incorporate change,  incapable management  and questionable spending.  The Arboretum has a lot of fat that could be trimmed, yet they are sorely lacking meat in other areas NOTE: an EHS Employee Health and Safety Director and a Security Gaurd are not the same thing.  In summary:  If your unambitious, snooty, or have a bunch of degrees but still dont know how to change a flat tire, then the arboretum has a seat for your behind.

Beautiful place to work. Learn a lot about plants and plant care. Great hours, life/work balance and majority of outdoor crews are friendly. If you are outside, the work environment is pretty great. 
However there is very little career advancement. Management is very difficult to work with and have made it clear that workers are easily replaced. The politics and the power plays between supervisors are frustrating, tiresome and make it difficult to perform simple job duties. Amazing place to start off but it is hard to want to stay permanently when there is little appreciation or incentive by management to keep you.

Lots of negativity and gossip. I felt thrown into the deep end with little to no training and no real sense of teamwork. Communication was lacking. I was treated like I should know what to do without ever properly being told. While they are doing work towards inclusion training it didn't include class differences or mental health / developmental differences which from my observation the staff desperately needs. Towards the end I avoided coworkers as much as possible because of their terrible views, beliefs and attitudes.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Leadership is continuously improving upon reasons why we should work here. Between competitive pay, benefits, and work/life balance, they are wonderful to work for. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I haven’t found this position stressful. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Employees are treated with respect and there are ample employee benefit opportunities that are offered .

What is the best part of working at the company?
The beauty of nature, and the dedicated employees!

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Gets very busy sometimes. Over a million visitors annually.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
More Liberal, as you'd expect. But organized, mission based, good leadership.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Part time work. Greeting visitors, solving problems, managing events.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working with a group of intelligent,  like-minded people that are passionate about our environment and about what they do.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The culture is not stressful!  

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Culture of scientists, temporary/seasonal  staff, volunteers and interns that all work as a team.

This job was recommended to me by a friend and I am so glad I went to the interview. The managers and supervisors were great, the environment was professional but friendly and everyone really worked like a team. So long as you gave them enough notice the higher ups were willing to work around my class schedule, and as a double major that was really important. No extreme draw backs.

I worked on the lawn crew using large equipment to maintain the lawn portion of the 1700 acre arboretum.  Once you have experience its a very nice environment to work in.  The seasonal position is perfect for a person on a pension or retired person looking to keep busy.  On hot days the work is tiring but on nice days it hardly feels like work.

As a new staff member, I immediately felt at home. The culture was supportive, encouraging, collaborative and committed to learning about and caring for growing things and the environment. Volunteers were well respected and an integral part of the day-to-day operations, which made my job so easy.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Grounds crew 3 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Assistant 3 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Research intern 2 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Membership sales 2 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Intern 2 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour

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