REI Reviews

I have been working at REI full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Excellent people to work with, relaxed environment, excellent values, great discounts, and some of the best healthcare benefits around. One of the major reasons I work for REI is because they have great values (sustainability, humanitarian, etc.) and they follow through on them from the ground up. It's very inspiring.

Cons – More than likely you will have to move to a new city if you want to move up in the company quickly. There aren't a ton of regional opportunities for advancement but more are developing all the time.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at REI full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Work-life balance, access to product.

Cons – Slow moving.
Change adverse.
Many Directors lack courage.
No career advancement.

Advice to Senior Management – I've worked here for nearly 5 years and have to say the company has gone backwards these past few years. Retention of strong, talented, couragous and business oriented employees is becoming an issue. If you don't tow the company line and get complacent you will either be managed out or you will resign out of sheer frutstration. HR is starting to have major retention issues. Many strong (business oriented) employees are resigning.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at REI full-time

Pros – Kudos to REI for giving back to the community via grants, donations, and allowing employees to volunteer for outdoor service projects like clearing hiking trails (& doing so during work hours). Employees work hard and are nice for the most part. Flexible work schedule, no micro management, incredible employee discounts for gear & clothes, shoes, etc. Good pay and benefits.

Cons – Culture not what it used to be. Did not feel supported or appreciated by the time I left. My contributions to the company growth were not recognized as much as they could have been. Lack of effective leadership, which impacted overall success of department I worked in.

Advice to Senior Management – Realize that you cannot effectively lead your people if you are more concerned with your own personal climb up the corporate ladder!

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

I have been working at REI part-time

Pros – Great co-workers, fantastic costumer interaction and conversations about the outdoors, great managers, flexible part time hours! Sometimes free food for employee's!

Cons – Nothing is a con with REI

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I 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

I 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

I 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

I have 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

I have 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

I have 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