How are career development opportunities at Trek Bicycle?

Discounts on bikes, relatively flexible schedule

No career advancement opportunities, no raises, dishonest bonus structure, no hands on training in house or from outside resources, toxic and inexperienced management

Cheap staff bikes or at least they were

No performance review, no opportunity for career development, pay rises not even considered

Helpful coworkers foster collaboration, Access to high-quality tools and resources, Remote work flexibility is offered in some roles, Opportunities for growth are present with persistence, Leadership is approachable and supportive, Diversity initiatives are making progress.

Progress on internal promotions is slow, Overall workload is high, Resources for career development are limited, Training opportunities could be improved, Inter-departmental communication needs work, Compensation growth is stagnant, Outdated policies hinder innovation.

Good work life balance for most groups, although some don’t have this. However, expect your work life balance to suffer the closer you get to senior leadership. Remote and hybrid work is common. Great group of coworkers. People are generally sharp and willing to help others. Bike discounts, nice trails, a very nice facility, fun events, and good discounted food at the on-site cafeteria. Benefits are pretty good, with many employees getting bonuses and contributions to a stock ownership plan when times are good.

Really low pay that does not pace with inflation. Raises are not given annually. The longer you stay here, the further it feels that you fall behind. HR is not great to work with, and the company is just big enough that key contributors who should be rewarded are not visible to senior leadership and HR. Because of this, requests for raises are denied and many high performers have been leaving the company. There is a technical career path in name only, since the pay range at the top of the technical path is low relative to management. Performance reviews seem randomly timed if given at all, and the outcome of the review is not tied to a salary increase at all. You can receive top reviews every year for many years without an increase. John Burke has surrounded himself with yes men and speaks exclusively in platitudes. His leadership doesn’t inspire confidence and leadership has made many mistakes in the past years. Employees are told to work hard without raises and that their efforts will eventually be recognized, but this has not proven to be true. Managers spend too much of their time changing their goals and tracking metrics to reflect whatever self-help book has been chosen by John Burke with which to frame every problem the company faces for that year.

Great rewards for doing well, lots of support for growth and career advancement.

Lots of processes due to being corporate

Coworkers Discounts Bikes Selling Fun

Management No career advancement Lack of pay - no commissions

Discounts on Trek merch? If at this point you are still into that sort of thing.

If a company has to tell you they provides a fun-loving work culture they are probably not being honest. They are going to try to pay you as little as possible, while increasing your responsibilities and work load. For example, Trek Albuquerque had a $5 Million dollar sales goal for the year, predicting their "biggest year of service yet!" but stagnant compensation for employees. Opportunities for growth are often limited, and career advancement paths are unclear, leading to frustration for those seeking upward mobility. The environment was toxic, often backstabbing culture. I watched the Service Manager personally push out multiple long-term employee's out of the company but the General Manager turn a blind eye because he was happy with the numbers. Sigh.

Helpful coworkers foster collaboration, Access to high-quality tools and resources, Remote work flexibility is offered in some roles, Opportunities for growth are present with persistence, Leadership is approachable and supportive, Diversity initiatives are making progress.

Promotion opportunities are limited, Overtime is often expected, Recognition for hard work is inconsistent, Training programs lack depth, Internal communication could be better, Compensation isn’t competitive, Outdated systems slow efficiency.

Facility is nice with the cafe, gym, and trail system updates.

I've been waiting to write this review to make sure that my "feelings" stay true months after leaving. Trek is a tricky place because the exterior looks amazing- from the outside it appears to be a company that cares about its employees and wants to create a great culture of innovation and "family". In reality the culture is extremely toxic starting at the top. John Burke has slightly below average intelligence (an opinion shared by many) and is known as an egomaniac. I worked at Trek for 10 years before I finally had enough. I saw things happen during Trek's 23-24 layoffs that truly shocked me and showed Trek for what it truly is...a soulless and badly managed organization. There was zero accountability at the VP and director levels for the mistakes that led to Trek being in a terrible financial situation. All the VPs are people who came up in the business with John, and it truly is an "old boys" club. Most have been in their seat for 15-20 years. Because of this, Trek is a stagnant place for career growth outside of minimal movement to about middle management level. Once you hit that you better be ok with sitting for years doing the same job...which can be dangerous as others are also trying to climb the ladder so you'll have a target on your back the entire time. As I got closer to working with John Burke it quickly became apparent that those mid-level to director level were biting their tongues and holding back from speaking facts in order to allow John Burke to feel competent. The goal seemed to be to massage his ego and ignore his failings. The closest thing I can relate it to is, working/living under a king from the middle ages- anything he says goes and he is accountable to no one. When you understand this you understand Trek at the core. You can be "quietly terminated" for a multitude of things like riding the wrong brand of bike, listening to rap music in your car, or appearing intoxicated at one of the many company gatherings at which alcohol is freely available and consumed with enthusiasm. My entire time at Trek I felt like I was walking a tight rope and those examples are all reasons I saw people "not fit in" and be quietly removed or forced out. The other area which really gets to me, and others, is Trek's culture of nepotism. Family members and friends are given opportunities in the business that they have not earned. For example, I have a close friend still in the business who has zero experience in the job they currently occupy. They were offered the job without having to interview because they were friends with the right people. Literally learning on the job with no college education and this is high level job for a global product line. They confided in my that it felt "dirty" but who turns down an opportunity for a promotion? Last thing to note is the pay. The pay is absolutely horrible. Trek is a 2Billion+USD global company, but the pay is shockingly low. I doubled my income by leaving the company and the job I have now is less stressful and less busy then what I was doing at Trek. Trek knows that there is a pipeline of cycling enthusiasts who want to "live the industry life" and so there is no negotiation power from the standpoint of a current employee. Truly the mentality is "if you don't like it, leave". I get it, I was one of those people when I came on board and it took me years to finally admit to myself that the company I joined was actually a really crappy place to work. The nice facilities and employee purchases really made it hard to come to grips with. Right now the company is going through extremely hard times financially and John Burke keeps trying to make a bid to run for President...I'm not kidding about that. He seriously thinks he could run the country...as his company falls into financial ruin. When you add all this together you have a company that looks great on the outside, but is run by a less then owner/president and a group of executives who have learned to pad that ego in order to retain their positions. Trek's only lifeline is its loyal dealer network that was built in the 90s- without that the company wouldn't exist. I would not be surprised if the Burkes take a payday and sell to a larger conglomerate in the next 5-7 years. Like I said- I waited awhile to make sure I still felt how I feel months out and yeah...my new home is much friendly, much more fair, and much more generous than Trek ever was. Be a cycling lover, but don't work for Trek.

Flexible work environment & Great co-workers

Leadership always stays back with zero accountability. Salaries are below the market average. No proper performance reviews. GPTW is not anonymous. The workload is insane for some people, but there is no recognition.