Mattel Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Mattel

Pros – Mattel has great people and a fun environment overall due to the nature of the products you make. You have the opportunity to interact with others in cross functional teams to really make a difference in product. Other strengths include:
- Good Work Life Balance
- On Site Gym
- Half Day Fridays
- Generous Vacation Times
- Causal Dress

Cons – - Political Environment
- Senion Management Lacks Focus and Clear Strategy in Certain Business Units

Advice to Senior Management – Focus! Respect the workers who are putting in time to make your vision a success.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Mattel

Pros – Great People
Great Products and brands

Cons – Layoffs
Cost cutting
Overseas manufacture
Soft on innovation

Advice to Senior Management – Develop your people and provide growth opportunities

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Mattel

Pros – Fun to make toys for a living
Friendly atmosphere
Pay is generally good for those who deserve it
Training offered is good

Cons – Political types get ahead quickly
Too often hire from the studios
Getting very top heavy. More and more VP's and less worker bees

Advice to Senior Management – Recognize strategic value of IT and don't treet as a body shop. Be careful in promoting those who are political and focus only on those who produce.

Current Employee – been working at Mattel

Pros – Outstanding People
Great work life balance
Not a sweatshop
Smart employees

Cons – Slow and limited career growth
Mature company

Advice to Senior Management – focus on employee growth

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Mattel

Pros – Good, causal, fun work environment. Decent location, nice headquarters, good cafeteria, and good employee discount. Great design team and opportunity to think creatively most of the time.

Cons – The higher ups changing their minds constantly and creating more work for employees and in turn making it sometimes difficult to make and meet deadlines.

Advice to Senior Management – To communicate clearly what is the direction and sticking to it. To much politics involve sometimes, make it frustrating for employees to work productively.

Former Employee – worked at Mattel

Pros – They treat you with respect, and are always willing to work with you if you need time off for important personal issues.

Cons – Hours are low and benefits have been eliminated for part time employees

Advice to Senior Management – If you have promised something to employees, don't just suddenly take it away

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Mattel

Pros – Mattel has great design teams, great brands, and the teams at Boys and Girls, American Girl and Fisher Price are very driven to succeed. They take a lot of pride in their products.

Cons – Mattel's consensus environment has deteriorated to a point where you have people more worried about what others are doing than what competition is doing. Too many people in the management layers to "stay informed" rather than adding value. Not enough communications from managers to employees.

Advice to Senior Management – Get more new blood in the management ranks who are competent at their roles, and rotating the the same old cronies though assignments.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Mattel

Pros – People are treated very well at Fisher-Price
Great people
Fun work/products
Good benefits
Good pay
Good work/life balance (the only exception might be Marketing, but that's what you should expect as a business leader)
1/2 day Fridays
Great cafeteria and gym
Generous paid time off
East Aurora is a great place to live
Buffalo is close-knit and alot of fun for people into sports, dining, and going out
Multiple holiday parties

Cons – Promotions are lobsided towards (not surprisingly) Marketing
Promotions based not only on performance but also who is popular ("in the club")
The snow - seriously, plan to buy a heavy-duty snowblower if you're moving there
A lack of racial & cultural diversity in the area as a whole.
The Fisher-Price HQ is way out in the boondocks away from Buffalo.

Advice to Senior Management – You're doing a great job. But, there is room for more innovation, and that doesn't necessarily mean product risks. Something simple, such as: how about buying the naming rights to the Buffalo sports teams? Also, how about a Fisher-Price or Barbie movie? Maybe the latter is aimed at teens and adults (ie parents) rather than just the little ones? Just a thought. :)

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Mattel

Pros – Mattel consistently ranks in the Best Places to Work because it has great amenities (gym, cafeteria, 1/2 day fridays) and it's benefits are good. However, there is a flip side: the conduct of work, middle management, risk aversion, and long hours are not used in the rankings.

Cons – Mattel is very highly politicized which encourages managers and personnel to be very guarded with their decision making and risk taking which kills innovation and creativity. Layoffs continue to arrive in waves creating anxiety, confusion, degraded performance. Last, look at turnover rates for middle management including Directors and VP's to get a sense of what's going on.

Advice to Senior Management – It's time to start investing in the people you have again. Performance will improve with stability and a trusting, open work environment which does not exist today.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Mattel

Pros – Great work/life balance, family-friendly, good overall corporate culture

Cons – Compesenation below market, opportunities for advancement not as easily attainable than what they tell you, rotational program used in place of advancement.

Advice to Senior Management – Retain top talent, focus on being a market leader rather than falling behind

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend