Gateway Reviews

Pros

nice people and hard working

Cons

location is a little bit tough

Advice to Senior Management

Keep working hard

Pros

Good salary, attractive location, Some nice people, large corporate building and open communications.

Cons

Most of Gateway's employees were let go after Acer bought the business. Many angry and sad faces with fear of losing jobs. Selfish managers, confused designers and disqualified members who isn't really updated in the field to compete with other PC companies.

Advice to Senior Management

Acer in Taiwan must know who to trust, and how to fully use employees' knowledge and professional experiences. Operations under conservative Asian way in this location will not work. Lazy old days top managements should open their eyes and willing to work from the bottom-up, not just counting days and checks that they make.

Pros

My immediate report was one of the best in the industry and salary was better than competitive salaries. First line managers also are some of the best I have ever either work for or interacted with. I am particularly impressed with the length and breadth of experience most of the first line managers have.

Cons

Management does not seem to be in tune with industry technology trends.

Advice to Senior Management

Leadership should be more decisive in focusing on specific niche markets and allocating resources to increase branding and presence in the named markets. Additionally, if there is to be a serious attempt at being competitive, then product feature sets must be leading and not lagging behind industry standards.

Pros

There was a great work life balance.

Cons

There was a lack of clear communication from upper management.

Pros

In the end, they followed a strategy I would have followed had I been in the same position as the last CEO - Ed Coleman - sell to whomever was going to give maximum value for the brand and retail relationships Gateway had. Best reasons to work there were one was always exposed to the different functions that made the company tick. Silo's existed to some extent, however, it was very transparent as to what was happening on strategy. All you had to do was listen.

Cons

Lots of blame game when things did not go right. No one would be interested in picking up a mess and getting the ball across the goal line.

Advice to Senior Management

Telling employees that they will not be laid of for many many months to come when it's actually in less than a month - not so smart. Be more open and transparent in that regard.

Pros

Prior to Weitzen, it was GREAT! Everyone worked well together, communication was strong. Awesome teamwork at the individual and the departmental level.

Cons

After Weitzen - Exec management threw money like it was from a board game. Communication halted. When Innouye came in, he took departments completely out (laid off), then wondered why things "broke". Acer isn't doing anything except dumping their inferior components into Gateway products, making them worse.

Advice to Senior Management

Wake up and take a look at the definition of Quality. I worked their for 17 years and had several Gateway products, because of the new technology. Now, the only computer I have in my home is HP.

Pros

Decent hours
Pay was good for the hours

Cons

Employee discounts were non-existent till the warehouse inventory had to be cleared
Morale in the office was dismal
Changed CEOs and direction of the company 3 times in 2 years

Advice to Senior Management

More consistency is needed as well as more focus to boost the morale of the staff would do wonders for retention rate.

Pros

The products are good. The people are from the combined companies of eMachines, Gateway and Acer. Many cultures and languages exist within the company.

Cons

They have laid off thousands of people and plan to lay off more. Control is moving to Taiwan away from the US.

Advice to Senior Management

Treat people like you would want to be treated! The culture is not into team building, why? If you make a decision, don't back down. Go with it.

Pros

Too energetic. Decisions were quick but perhaps too quick.

Cons

Efforts were not even & not coordinated. A lot of the work done could not be turned into revenue. Too many egotistic people & too many hasty decisions.

Advice to Senior Management

We want to see our work turned into profit & bonus.

Pros

The office environment and people who work here. Flexibility in organization and ability to take on new projects, learn new skills and flesh out your ideas. Again, the people here are great.

Cons

Cumbersome corporate structure, previous lack of stability, fewer and fewer days off. Not a strong central mission, brand or product offering. Sort of mishmashed philosophy that doesn't resonate.

Advice to Senior Management

Spend less time worrying about HR policy, more about employee productivity. Employees will work harder if they're happier.