As 10% of the US population struggles to find work, employees are sounding off on Glassdoor.com providing real time ratings¹ and reviews of their employers and providing job seekers with helpful insight that include cautionary tales of companies to avoid.
In concert with the release of the Employees’ Choice Awards for Top 50 Best Places to Work in 2010, Glassdoor has identified the 25 lowest-rated companies, according to employees who voluntarily completed a 20-question survey. Among those companies that have received at least 25 reviews from U.S.-based employees in the past year, the lowest rated is Gibson Guitar, followed closely by United Airlines and Spherion.
Here are some recent employee reviews that reveal why these companies fall short in terms of company satisfaction:
“Good people overall…[but] An absolutely bizarre culture that top-to-bottom seems to revolve solely around trying not to upset the CEO.” – Anonymous Gibson Employee (Location n/a)
“Job security is always an issue and stressful to one’s life and home life. Extremely dysfunctional pay scale system. Most of the employees have placed their heart and soul in to this company only to have their face slapped for doing so.” – United Airlines Supervisor Airport Operations (Location n/a)
“Poor communication from management regarding my assignment and other employment opportunities within the organization.” – Spherion Project Administrator (San Francisco, CA)
One thing common among lowest-rated companies is finger pointing at senior management and CEO. In fact, only two CEOs on this list have an approval rating higher than 30%: Cognizant Tech Solution’s Frank D’Souza (40% approval) and Fastenal’s Will Oberton (42%). In addition, a handful of CEOs have consistently appeared on the Glassdoor CEO Watch List, including: United Airlines’ Glenn Tilton, Rain Bird’s Anthony LaFetra and Level 3 Communications’ Jim Crowe.
The complete list of the 25 lowest-rated companies is included below along with the CEO approval rating:
If you are in the job market or just gauging what your company is like compared to others, keep in mind that ratings are just one aspect of the in-depth, work-related data Glassdoor offers. You can also get information on salary for specific jobs at specific companies as well as find interview questions and reviews.
If you haven’t yet taken time to anonymously voice your opinion or share your pay (for current job or any job in the past three years), we invite you to take a few minutes and contribute to our growing database. Your contributions get you access to all Glassdoor.com and puts your company in the running for the 2011 lists.
¹ Ratings are based on a 20-question survey that evaluate eight key workplace factors including: Senior Leadership, Communication, Employee Morale, Career Opportunities, Work/Life Balance, Compensation and Benefits, Recognition and Feedback, and Fairness and Respect. For reporting simplicity, a company’s rating on the Glassdoor website and this list is limited to one decimal space although the actual calculations extend infinitely to determine final rank order
