REI Reviews

Former Employee – worked at REI part-time for more than a year

Pros – Company treats employees very well through benefits, small acts of appreciation. Very well paid for a retail job.

Cons – Customers are usually well off and can act very snobby, because of the return policy, it reinforces the saying, "Customers are always right" which just encourages customers to be even ruder when things don't go their way. Work experience can heavily depend on who is on the management team.

Advice to Senior Management – Really consider who you put on your management team, my experience went from awesome to not so great when 2 of the managers switched out. If you're going to move great managers into HQ, please replace them with equally competent ones.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at REI full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Fantastic work environment, great benefits

Cons – Only possible advancement through retail if able to relocate over and over...

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at REI full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Work life balance was great

Cons – low pay, low pay, low pay

Advice to Senior Management – chill

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at REI full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Great benefits and they really take care of you

Cons – I worked retail and couldnt stand some of the customers

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at REI

Pros – Great environment to working and amazing management.

Cons – Vendor orders can be very complicated when there isn't a system to follow up on.

Advice to Senior Management – There could be some extra training with vendor orders.

Current Employee – been working at REI full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great coworkers and management. Good pay and benefits package. Good customers and a fun environment to work in. Room for advancement for those who are willing to put in the effort and are able to relocate.

Cons – Limited opportunities for full time employment. Irregular working hours that include nights and weekends. Company is going through a lot of change currently which can be stressful.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at REI full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – * great work/life balance, especially for people with families and kids
* product discounts
* nice campus and cafe
* casual work environment
* good benefits
* it's true that REI is a great place to work.... for one very specific type of person (typically lives on the Eastside, drives a Subaru, has young kids, likes the outdoors, is happy with conformity and the status quo, likes to fit in... and generally has a really boring and bland personality.)

Cons – * IT department is antiquated, out of touch, and severely limits progress throughout the rest of the company
* low, low, low pay
* don't be fooled by the casual work environment or politically liberal people: this place is very conservative and there's a lot of pressure to conform, get with the program, don't rock the boat or question authority, and generally be an REI cheerleader. It's a very homogeneous environment that doesn't allow for innovation and risk-taking and anyone who's not the cookie-cutter REI type won't last long there. The people who play the game the best are the ones who get promoted.
* way too many meetings. REI is run by committee and it takes a village to get the most basic, everyday tasks accomplished
* this isn't that unusual in a corporate environment, but considering the company values, it's kind of shocking that there's a real boys' club at REI and the covert sexism is particularly hypocritical there

Advice to Senior Management – Um, management is kind of the problem. There's a general air of complacency about REI as a company -- those days of being a standout are long gone and the company can no longer coast on its reputation. Shake things up, take some real risks, and embrace change.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at REI full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Genuine endorsement for spending time outdoors whether going out for a jog over the lunch hour or getting into the mountains on weekends.

Cons – Heavily bureaucratic and siloed in approach to decision-making and innovation. Lacking an inspiring organizational and brand vision beyond promoting discounts and sales.

Advice to Senior Management – Find a visionary leader. Embrace unique status as a co-op. Create a bias toward action rather than a bias toward including more decision-makers.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at REI full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Great discounts on outdoor gear and clothing. Nice campus and generally nice co-workers. Depending on your department/manager, opportunity for flexible schedule or work-from-home arrangement.

Cons – Pay is LOW. Health care is available, but expensive and basic.
If you want a promotion, you have to kiss a and play politics more than you'd imagine necessary for such an altruistic employer. I saw many people receive promotions who were not qualified based on how much a leader "liked them."
HR management is dishonest and unprofessional.
New CFO is more interested in "bottom line" vs. retaining long tenured and engaged employees. An untold number of staff, many who had very high performance review scores, years of tenure at the co-op under their belts (10-20 years on average) and developed/deployed signature REI programs, were laid off by REI in March 2013. REI leadership was not communicative or professional in their reasoning or handling of the layoffs. Many of these employees, by simple mathematical calculation, would have been at the higher end of their pay scales -- which leads to a conclusion that this was a cut and dry cost cutting measure with no concern for the impact on human lives, professional contributions or performance history. Truly deplorable for a company that publicly stands for ethics and integrity. These layoffs resulted in poor morale and confidence for employees left at the co-op. The Board of Directors obviously needs a course correction with their top co-op leadership team.
REI is losing their beloved CEO, which means the company is headed for even rougher waters if they can't pull out of their current leadership tailspin. I honestly don't think the leadership transition will go well for them based on the handling of the layoffs. This set a bad precedent for co-op direction.
Too much focus on competition with Amazon, Dicks, etc., instead of focusing on what makes REI stronger and unique as a co-op. Need better strategy and management in marketing/sales to enhance REI's competitive edge. I came into my job with a positive perception of what REI stands for. Unfortunately, the reality of working there tells a different story of a sinking ship with poor leadership.

Advice to Senior Management – Pay attention to why your 100 Best score went down this year. Your employees are telling you something, and clearly you aren't listening. The resounding message is "senior leadership IS a huge problem."
HR leadership has a strange relationship with the truth. I have never heard of layoffs being handled so poorly in any company. Clean house, and start over with emotionally intelligent beings who have ethics and integrity. The Board better start paying attention, or they will lose even more market share to competitors. You honestly aren't doing much right at the current time.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at REI

Pros – Very progressive company.
Trying to be creative in staying competitive in a challenging environment.
Ensure that all employees had access to some type of health insurance (although basic).
Positive public image, people get excited when you say you worked for them.
Really good discounts.
If you are looking for part-time work to subsidize your income this is a great job.

Cons – Raises are small, if any. Hours are often being cut. Hours are not consistent.

Can be frustrating because they can be slow (or reluctant) to change in some areas.

Inconsistent in communicating to employees. Too much on some topics, minimal on others.
Future opportunities are questionable--REI recently released a lot of employees, some of which had been there up to twenty years. In addition they were very closed mouthed about this and not up front with the employees about their reasons, which made some staff uncomfortable about their future and what they needed to do to keep their jobs.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company