Patagonia Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Patagonia part-time for more than a year

Pros – Work environment, benefits, culture, sports

Cons – Management, IT, pay, vacation, computers

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Patagonia part-time for less than a year

Pros – Co-workers were warm and open--work became a community.

Cons – Technical apparel and educated clientele require you to know your product.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Patagonia full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – My almost six years at Patagonia as Senior designer was a wonderful experience. The design team and the entire company is like a big family. Those with kids often could hear their babies in the intercom when they were needed down in day care. It made it very human. People are beautiful and good hearted, starting with the owners. If I hadn't been called to my mission and a new life, I could have stayed there for the long haul.

Cons – I love having my own space to work and create. Although, I love the social aspect of the environment. I would have loved to have a door to close and concentrate. But it is an open environment, which keeps people close. I often preferred to take work hoe to get everything I needed to get done without distractions... But most people would like the environment.

Advice to Senior Management – I think that sometimes new non-design people in other departments, looking to get into the design department who had potential, were overlooked. A few who could not move up into the design studio positions ended up getting good design positions in other companies - who hired them for their accomplishments and skills they learned on the job, and who did not "pigeon hole" them. Some people do not need a design degree to create good product. They can learn on the job.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Patagonia

Pros – Very casual work environment, lots of flexibility in work hours, on-site daycare and cafeteria. Most of the people working at Patagonia are passionate about the company's stated mission and vision.

Cons – YC's book "Let My People Go Surfing" is an idealized version of the company as it existed 15 years ago. It bears no relation to the way the company operates today. Growth has become the mantra at the expense of the company's soul. Communication from the top is absolutely horrible. Very rarely is clear direction given. The smartest people usually leave in a couple years after they realize there are few opportunities for career growth. More people would leave if there were comparable job opportunities in Ventura.
People often get layed off without warning or cause, most often due to poor management planning. The company claims to be a family friendly, top employer because it makes for good PR, but they do not value the individual person.

Advice to Senior Management – Don't depend on your direct reports to give you the true story about what's going on. Most likely they are only telling you what they think you want to hear in order to keep their jobs. Bring back employee training and prioritize hiring from within.

Former Employee – worked at Patagonia

Pros – Relaxed, open, clean environment to work in with like minded people for a not so hot wage. Keeping the work load in mind, the pay was pretty spot on. There are tons of perks (i.e. free swag, cheap swag, flexible hours, free benefits [to some] and a plethora of other good and different policies).

Cons – It is, after all, just retail. No matter who the company, retail is retail is retail. Also, patagonia is obviously very focused on sustainability. Sustainable growth often means slow growth; here you'll see that's exactly the case. When you get a higher up position within the company at large, you stay - it's good spot to be. That makes it a bit difficult for aspiring young adults (such as myself) to climb the ladder with efficiency you can find in other outdoor retailers.

Advice to Senior Management – larger bonuses (possibly more than a maximum of one yearly) to reduce on retail staff turnover.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Patagonia

Pros – Truely Green company with many benefits to employees (day care, free healthcare, organic cafe)

Cons – It is a very large company, so it is difficult to have full viability of the corporate strategy.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Patagonia

Pros – There is a very relaxed working environment, great discounts (sometimes free) on clothes and gear from other outdoor companies, great company agenda and motive, generally friends coworkers and customers, reasonable in terms of breaks and days off, no late nights or early mornings, opportunities for Environmental Grant work

Cons – Standing all day, very little room for real career advancement, low pay in general (good for the industry as a whole, but still not alot overall)

Advice to Senior Management – Doing a good job!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Patagonia

Pros – work life balance
autonomy
open-minded
laid back
progressive culture

Cons – because so laid back often things take a long time to get done

Advice to Senior Management – A bit more communication might go a long way!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Patagonia

Pros – I had the best 7 years of my career working here.
Company walks the walk and talks the talk.
Great Life/Work Balance

Cons – Low Pay vs. cost of living in SoCal
Low Attrition/Room for advancement
Company does not grow at rate that retains the best people
Ventura is not the best place to live

Advice to Senior Management – Make sure to keep up with the competition on compensation

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Patagonia

Pros – Tremendous brand with great values - at the end of the day you feel good about supporting this brand. Fantastic people. Lots of room for entrepreneurial endeavors. Flexible schedule/hours. Wear flip flops every day to work. On site day care. Work side by side with very happy people. Great subsidized organic cafe on campus. Very little accountability (good and bad). Many business meetings turn into philosophical conversations regarding company values and commitment to the environment - I loved these unusual conceptual opportunities. Easy to take off for a bike ride, run, surf when stress hits the red zone.

Cons – Little turnover and slow growth philosophy make it challenging to move up in the company and grow professionally. Communication from Sr. Mgt in general is challenging here - not always sure what the strategic initiatives are. The last few years this has improved but managing to those initiatives has not.

Advice to Senior Management – Need better strategic planning process - and then communicate with the whole company.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend