social worker

support worker

case worker

team leader

cleaner

Middlesbrough-Council

The term too many chiefs and not enough indians sums up the council perfectly. 50 managers to 20 supervisors/leads to oversee a handful of staff, no communication between these managers and supervisors but the ones at the bottom get picked at/ micromanaged if things go wrong.
If you arent part of the clique or a friend of management, doesnt matter how hard you graft or how much you help your team mates, you'll be washed over.

If you can just turn up, be a number and clock out- this place might suit you.
If you actually give a toss even if it means you wont be liked, this place is NOT for you. You will be picked at until you throw the towel in as you are seen as 'the problem'. No wonder the town and the council are in the shxx! 
Staff spend most their days constantly worrying about the red tape and if they've covered their backsides instead of the actual work to benefit society. After being here a few years, I dont blame them. 

Worked for the council & have just left.  I couldn't wait to leave.  Managers are all dinosaurs, not hired on their abilities but if their face fits & they can lick A*%e.  

Common sense is out the window & if you follow the ways of the council then your on the right path (I am a robot, I am a robot)

Cut backs have happened (I left on my own volition) but if your in `Management` (& have got to this position just by your greasing abilities) then your fine & will keep your job, only for someone in a lesser position to lose theirs.

If your lazy you can get away with it & hide behind `procedure` & the manager you have grown to lick up to.

I hope other departments are not like this within Mbro Council as I was under Environment / Property.  

Final straw was letting go of good staff & paying out money on a new caption / tag line for the council.

Waste of time & money.

The council is far too reliant on consultants from down the country who know very little about the area to plug staffing gaps. It's counterproductive because they pay out high amounts of money to agencies for consultants who can then leave whenever they like on a whim and the council are back in the same place they started when it comes to recruitment. As a result, there's a revolving door. Managers are not very good at their jobs and are quite unapproachable. A very difficult workplace to fit into as most people have worked there for years and years and all know one another, it comes across as a very cliquey organisation. Generally very disorganised and very slow paced, like watching paint dry. 

The only saving grace is the external benefits such as hybrid working and flexi time. 

No two days were the same - which was a benefit, and initially there was a genuine desire to develop the town towards a successful vision of the future. But year after year there were budget cuts causing constant departmental re-organisations and many redundancies. In the end it became impossible to plan strategically and much expertise was lost after each wave of redundancies making it difficult to work efficiently which I found very frustrating.
In the final six months there was a feeling of being on 'death row' once we knew our section was being cut.

The day would start around 0830 and would have some structure to it, visits, meetings, data inputting, responding to e-mails and telephone calls etc. However, these would need to be altered if a crisis developed with a case. The day would predominantly finish around 1700, but this would depend if a crisis had occurred and may be after this time.

Throughout this time I have learned how to work effectively with children and their families in order to get the best possible outcome for the children.


There is good managerial support and a hardworking, cohesive team culture which allows you to deal with the emotional impact of your work. The hardest part of the job is dealing with emotional impact of your role and the most enjoyable part is getting good, positive feedback from the child.

What is the best part of working at the company?
How friendly some of the management are they make you feel like part of a team 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Lack of communication, being informed about things that concern you after other people whom it doesn't affect.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Staff stressed that the team situation doesn't work anymore.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Booking respite for their stay, checking meds, giving handovers, answering phones, plus the doors, supporting with personal care, making phone calls to family, GP, nurses, friends, updating care files, doing notes, handling monies, communication with staff, servicing and preparing foods if no cook in the kitchen, doing laundry, and activities.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working hours, the home life balance was perfect and plenty of holidays. Great pension scheme. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Poorly organised and not enough backing from management. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Horrible environment to work in. Dirty rat infested/pigeon infested workshop and it’s just accepted as if it’s normal. Workshop roof was like a sieve. The equipment was ancient and needed updating. Very bad blame culture in workshop and attitude of certain people was appalling. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Depressing, the place really gets you down over time.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I was mostly left to my own decision and devices to get on with my job. There was no pressure and I was wirkingvin the open air.  I liked this job very much.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
There was no stress. I was not under any pressure what so ever.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
As I was not working alongside mist of the employees other than the few I in my hub, I cannot speak for the rest of the council but it was a very friendly atmosphere.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It was a very relaxing to be honest. I got into work, we were told what jobs to do for the day then we went out and done them.

If you arent a relative of management here you are treat like utter s**t. If you are a relative the world is your oyster, spend as much or as little of people council tax as you wish topping up your own personal tool kit for home or by buying some extra materials for your own home projects and it all gets swept under the giant Middlesbrough Council carpet, as if by magic. Because dont worry daddy in law will cover it all up (especially when you flood a school). Youre constantly undermined by p**s poor managers who cant do the job they're employed to do, even blamed for their uneducated decisions when things go wrong. As for the pay.....good luck getting paid for the hours you do nevermind any extra.

Some good managers and excellent staff BUT some - not all - depts. rife with cronyism.  Skilled people with no promotion or payrise for decades (yes, decades)  yet manager's friends put into jobs they cannot even do just to give them a promotion, over skilled staff of many years experience. Managers just promote each other and empire build with no concern for wasted public money on high wages for people incapable of fulfilling their position. Non favoured staff just languish & stagnate until they have had enough and go elsewhere. Good departments are fair; it's down to luck of working for a good or bad management tree.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Social worker 57 salaries reported	£38,594 per year
Support worker 44 salaries reported	£29,022 per year
Case worker 27 salaries reported	£31,137 per year
Team leader 7 salaries reported	£45,451 per year
Cleaner 31 salaries reported	£25,237 per year

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