Mattel Reviews in New York, NY

Former Employee – worked at Mattel as an intern for less than a year

Pros – excellent location, great work environment, the people are amazing, fun, colorful, learned a lot about the product development process, half day fridays

Cons – hard to get overtime as an intern, some really busy times, and some slow times, large part of the job is communicating with China which can get difficult at times

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Mattel full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Half day Fridays
Some very nice hard working people

Cons – Way to much stress
Lack of direction from Sr management
Ultra high performance expectations
Management has definite favorites
Intense corporate politics at all levels

Advice to Senior Management – Work with your employees to get them to the next level. Don't give them impossible goals that can't be met. If one falls from favor there is no redemption under current Sr Management regardless of performance. Quit firing your great leaders and talent. Treat employees with respect and not as commodities.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Mattel full-time

Pros – Half day Fridays
Benefits
Opportunity to work on great brands
Opportunity to learn global product development

Cons – Very Stressful
High-school politics
Poor Sr. Mgmt
Fear driven culture

Advice to Senior Management – Instead of ridiculing and blaming poor performances on the lowest levels take a serious look at Sr. Mgmt. They create a culture of fear, passive aggression and negativity. People are laughed at in front of colleagues and then shunned from any career advancement. Some people thrive in this culture and are rewarded for "being on the bus." Well, school's out and I have other things to do.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Mattel

Pros – Decent pay.
Very good working environment.
Willing assistance from bosses.
Great head of engineering.
Given creative freedom on some projects.

Cons – Very slow at times.
Because of small engineering staff, it is difficult to get a job there after you graduate. If you are looking for a job that will give you this opportunity, look elsewhere.
Monotonous, very "interny", work.

Advice to Senior Management – Work more closely with your interns. Although the consensus as a whole of the program is very devoted, individual bosses do not give as much individual attention.

Organize the program a bit more.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Mattel

Pros – Great pay, great benefits, great work life balance.

Cons – Interview process - 7 people over 1 month.
Lack of promotion and ability for growth. There is rampant micromanaging and it's very hierarchical.
Frequent reorgs
People very often leave and come back to the company to get promoted.
They innovation is becoming very stale or by innovation you mean taking ideas from inventors. People stay in the same position for 5 - 10 years and deliver the same formats.

Advice to Senior Management – Provide ownership in projects and opportunities for growth.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Mattel

Pros – Mattel has a phenomenal benefits package which includes medical, dental and vision. They recognize numerous holidays and introduce their floating holidays to fill in the gaps. They also organize loads of after-work activities for the employees. The atmosphere is a lot like family or school. Everyone is very nice and has a great story behind them.

Cons – There is very limited mobility within the company. You could be stuck in the same position for 5 to 10 years.

Advice to Senior Management – Allow employees to move up quicker and freely. It would also be beneficial to introduce a few nice comments on an employee's performance every few months.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend