Hire and Fire Company - English Language Teacher HCL Education Centre Employee Review

Some parents are genuinely supportive and very attentive to their children’s progress in class. A number of the students are also pleasant, cooperative, and genuinely enjoyable to teach.

This is one of the most toxic and mentally exhausting workplaces I have ever experienced. The problems stem mainly from poor leadership, unhealthy power dynamics, and an extremely oppressive work culture. The team captain plays a major role in creating a hostile environment. Instead of guiding, supporting, or uplifting teachers—especially newcomers—the team captain consistently looks down on people, speaks condescendingly, and focuses on tearing others down rather than helping them improve. Feedback is not constructive; it is delivered in a way that makes you feel incompetent and worthless, even when you are genuinely trying your best. What makes things worse is the culture of backstabbing and gossip. Colleagues may appear friendly and supportive on the surface, but behind your back, they often speak negatively to the team captain. Shockingly, you only find out about this when the team captain later confronts you, repeating what others have said about you—creating distrust, anxiety, and constant self-doubt. As a newcomer, you quickly realize that being kind, polite, or approachable actually makes you an easy target. If you’re the “nice one” or always smiling, you are more likely to be singled out, blamed, and criticized. There are also many irrational and inhumane rules. For example, teachers are not allowed to sit at all during lessons, even during long two-hour classes. This is completely impractical and shows a lack of basic empathy. If a teacher is unwell, has knee issues, or simply needs to rest briefly while students are doing independent work, there is zero flexibility. Teachers are treated like machines rather than professionals. Work-life balance does not exist. You may be asked to suddenly substitute classes at the very end of your working hours, sometimes extending late into the evening. These are not requests—they are orders. If you refuse, you risk being labeled uncooperative, which negatively affects your evaluation. Branch captains and team captains will call you last-minute and expect full compliance, regardless of your exhaustion or personal plans. Leadership rarely asks for feedback or opinions. Instead, communication is one-directional and authoritarian. The tone used by management often feels arrogant and belittling, as if teachers should feel “lucky” just to be there. While you might occasionally meet a kind and helpful colleague, it does not make up for having a terrible team captain and an overall toxic culture. Unsurprisingly, staff turnover is extremely high. Many teachers leave during probation or immediately after, which speaks volumes. People do not leave because they are incapable—they leave because no one can survive long-term in such an emotionally draining and oppressive environment.

None at all...Utterly clueless...Zero competence

This company is extremely skilled at psychological manipulation—even when it's not your fault, they'll force blame onto you and claim it's due to your incompetence. When issues arise, leaders only support those they have good relationships with. The workload keeps increasing, to the point where even administrative tasks are assigned to teachers. Vacation time is not flexible—they forcefully require taking one specific vacation period per year, claiming it's voluntary, but choosing otherwise means offending your supervisor. During classes, administrative staff even patrol and take notes—are we in prison? What’s more, the management is adept at sowing discord—if colleagues get along well, they'll separate them and spread gossip between them. The most ridiculous part is that even when taking medical leave, employees are suspected of faking illness and get fined! Many people are barely holding on while working. I’ve heard that many excellent teachers have already left. A company like this doesn’t deserve dedicated professionals. The newly appointed TC is incompetent, and it’s unclear how she qualifies to manage us—probably because she’s a relative of the boss. Managers arrogantly order teachers around without recognizing their importance, leading to widespread resignations. Every year, a large number of teachers leave, only to be replaced by new hires who are unaware of the truth. If conflicts arise between parents and teachers, the company doesn’t handle them fairly—they simply deduct the teacher’s pay. You also have to be prepared to return to work during your time off to substitute teach. If you refuse, it will affect your monthly evaluation and year-end bonus. Oh, and you must attend meetings on your days off—otherwise, you’ll be fined. They claim you can request time off, but in reality, they’re already keeping score. In short, the company’s rating of just over one star speaks for itself. The management is far too terrible. Some teachers have even developed depression due to the oppression. It’s not worth sacrificing your well-being for a job like this.