BayPhoto Reviews

3.2

48% would recommend to a friend

(44 total reviews)

Larry Abitbol

Not enough data to show CEO approval

33% positive business outlook

BayPhoto has an employee rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars, based on 44 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The BayPhoto employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Manufacturing industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

44 reviews
2.0
16 Oct 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

A little better than average wage, easy to get to, and 90% of the co-workers were super nice people. Leads were very helpful in helping you learn. You do get to learn a lot about the manufacturing process.

Cons

Horrible conditions as you have to stand up all 8 hours, HR is not willing to work with your preferred work/life balance, and excessive pressured overtime during the holidays. I developed health problems and had to leave. Break rooms and bathrooms are also a mess. And with so many employees, coming and going it's like McDonalds.

3.0
19 Sept 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You know some jobs where they will literally hire anyone? Yeah, this is one of those places. And it's so bad, that they even need to use temp agencies to hire your coworkers. You'll see a good mix between recovering drug addicts, former gang bangers and other vagrants. I'm pretty sure if they drug tested, half the company would be gone the next day. People will literally get fired, only to be re-hired again despite multiple complaints against them. One temp left on the job an hour in, only to be hired again, and to leave AGAIN, a year later. HR doesn't cross-reference between temp hires and direct hires. If you get fired via the temp agency, just reapply. No one cares. No one cares. A coworker died and no donation collection or notice or announcement was made. No one cares. I made $16 an hour, only to be bumped up 50 cents when I complained they re-hired people who were problematic. They only give 3% raises. Correction, they only say they give raises. They promised raises but never gave them :)

Cons

They promote the wrong people and there is no room to go up. Anyone in a management or lead position will be there for life basically, strapped down due to debt or other money problems. Management makes decisions and ignore advice or complaints given to them. They sit inside offices all day and don't do much. Meetings are always held to "plan" for what to do, but nothing ever gets execute or followed through to the end. It's a shame Larry isn't around to see what really happens at his company but I guess it doesn't matter any more since he sold a part of it off to Circle Graphics now. He cashed out and checked out long ago. Bay Photo Lab is no longer a local company.

2.0
17 Jul 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Met some of the most interesting people and some of my now good friends in Santa Cruz there. If you're interested in art production, it's a great place to see the actual products, how they're made, and who makes them. You also get to see all the options for products you never knew existed. You get 40% off most products, but it's almost mandatory because you wouldn't be able to afford anything without it. In my year+ working there I met a lot of good people and learned a lot about the mass production of photographs, which was great knowledge being a photographer. You see lots of cool art/products, but will get disciplined if you are looking at it too long. They will literally hire anyone.

Cons

Upper management is very poor. Owner is nice but focused on productivity and outcomes, that seems to be about it. Second in command G is a real piece of work. Plays Jekyll and Hyde during meetings and does not care about how you are or what you can do, nevermind if you have any actual good ideas that would benefit the company. In one meeting I was told I "could do whatever I wanted to at this company," and in my last meeting which ended in my quitting, I was point blank accused of stealing. The lab had produced flawed prints I was going to use in a show and I asked for reprints of the specific ones with flaws from an operator. With no warning I was pulled into a room and essentially berated for policy that had never been mentioned before (in 5+ years of ordering I had never really had an issue). The conversation could have been handled with much more respect rather than outright confrontation and belittling. I fear for the health of many workers. Poor ventilation in some areas where there is sanding or finishing work being done. Lots of odors, vapors, and chemicals. When I was there the shrink wrap machine would constantly be smoking due to burning plastic too hot. They will literally hire anyone.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 44 Reviews

Glassdoor has 46 BayPhoto reviews submitted anonymously by BayPhoto employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if BayPhoto is right for you.