Recommend to a friend
Consumer Reports Reviews
104 reviews
Filter
Filter
Full-time Part-timeApprove of CEO
Marta Tellado
42 Ratings
Pros
-
Work/life balance is very strong (in 17 reviews)
-
CR is a non-profit and donations are up substantially along with digital subscriptions and the recent re-branding initiative was widely celebrated (in 11 reviews)
Cons
-
Never-ending changes in senior management that is totally clueless, like a ship with no rudder (in 9 reviews)
-
Behind the times in the digital age (in 5 reviews)
-
Helpful (2)
![Consumer Reports Logo]()
"Great Work being done"
Star Star Star Star Star- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Consumer Reports full-time (More than 10 years)
Pros
-Very smart people all aligned around a mission to help consumers
-People talk about the revolving door on managers-not true. We have added managers, and a few have left, hardly a revolving door. Most added have been in new roles. For the most part they seem solid. Time will tell, like another year or so, if they can be truly great, but they are solid
-While we did lose some long tenured employees, we are hiring employees with great technical skills and external perspective
-Perfect time to join a non-partisan media outlet
Take the negative with a HUGE grain of salt. Most employees are engaged, happy, and very proud to work here.Cons
-Based in Westchester, not NYC
-Base salaries are high and benefits are very good, but because they are non-profit, bonus plan is nominalAdvice to Management
Keep communicating, keep an open mind to employee ideas
Consumer Reports 2017-03-20 11:13 PDT -
-
Helpful (7)
![Consumer Reports Logo]()
"Don't believe the hype"
Star Star Star Star Star- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEOI have been working at Consumer Reports full-time (More than 8 years)
Pros
pretty good food in cafeteria and decent benefits; ok commute if you live in Westchester
Cons
Way, way behind in technology; very antiquated ways of 'managing' employees (i.e., having to physically be in office 5 days a week). Older employees have been fired, forced out or laid off, under the disguise of reorganization. In reality, it's a ruse to get rid of staffers on top of their game professionally and in pay. Never-ending changes in senior management that is totally clueless, like a ship with no rudder. No career path. The HR department keeps posting positive reviews to counter anything negative--believe the negative reviews as they are all true.
Advice to Management
None. You guys march to your own drummer and dismiss any suggestions by the people who actually do the work.
Consumer Reports 2017-05-01 11:43 PDT -
-
Helpful (6)
![Consumer Reports Logo]()
"Toxic"
Star Star Star Star Star- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Consumer Reports full-time (More than 3 years)
Pros
Benefits are good. The mission is strong. Consumers need someone to trust. The food is decent. The CEO is a really nice person.
Cons
Toxic people are bad for your career and life. There are some nice people at CR but majority of the more seasoned employees at CR are terrible people to interact and work with. Believe the negative reviews, they are true. I attribute this to people battling to keep their jobs secure until they retire, without having to do much work for it.
Advice to Management
It is a tough spot to be in, dramatically changing technology and landscape, aging staff with antiquated ideas and philosophies. Advice to upper management, manage your managers.
Consumer Reports 2017-04-06 07:54 PDT -
-
Helpful (1)
![Consumer Reports Logo]()
"Current Employee"
Star Star Star Star Star- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Consumer Reports (More than 3 years)
Pros
Wonderful people working hard to do good works.
Working hard to change and reshape company for digital ageCons
Change is everywhere which naturally cause friction
Advice to Management
The board of directors needs to take a step back.
Consumer Reports 2017-03-11 07:02 PST -
-
Helpful (11)
![Consumer Reports Logo]()
"Senior Software Developer"
Star Star Star Star Star- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookApproves of CEOI worked at Consumer Reports full-time (More than a year)
Pros
Excellent mission; some really agreeable people; good work-life balance. Benefits starting on day one.
Cons
Some management constituents approach their subordinates in a highly disrespectful and demeaning manner. This obviously creates an acerbic environment in which to work.
No training for new hires.
You’ll pay 1.5% in union dues, but you won’t get union representation for a year.
You’ll get filtered water from the company, but that’s it. Coffee is $.75.Advice to Management
Speak and treat everyone in your workforce, from the janitor to the CEO, exactly as you’d like to be spoken to.
Consumer Reports 2017-04-01 15:40 PDT -
-
Helpful (2)
![Consumer Reports Logo]()
"Long-time employee, recently left company"
Star Star Star Star Star- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsNeutral OutlookApproves of CEOI worked at Consumer Reports full-time (More than 10 years)
Pros
The organization is very mission oriented and is trying hard to find its way. It is trying to inculcate a more positive attitude among staff and improve morale, which varies widely within the organization.
Cons
Limited advancement potential and many long-serving managers that may not always be in-sync with the overall organizational goals.
Company offered a buyout offer to long-serving staff and lost a lot of expertise.Advice to Management
Good Luck with your new staff!
Consumer Reports 2017-02-19 22:59 PST -
-
Helpful (1)
![Consumer Reports Logo]()
"The truth... get a job at CR while you can"
Star Star Star Star Star- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Consumer Reports full-time (More than 8 years)
Pros
There is an immense amount of potential at CR for both organizational and individual prosperity. It would be best for those considering employment at CR to have an understanding of it's history. For many years, CR was the only player in product reviews. The organization as a whole got fat and happy without competition and a steady increase in revenue. Employment benefits were incredible, expectations were minimal, promotions were tenure- and not performance-based, and the need to innovate was not taken seriously. The age of the internet and competition came along and CR started loosing ground. Some senior leadership stayed too long and the tides of change were slow to react. CR found itself loosing subscribers, money, and relevancy to new audiences. Now there is an incredible senior leadership team whose influence continues to expand, responsibly may I add. They are dedicated to addressing the historical issues of both poor performing middle management and base level staff. The enthusiasm in various teams throughout CR is becoming contagious. The poor attitudes of entitled staff are fading. The culture of encouragement, excitement, and community is taking over. Staff, who have the foresight, ability, and ambition, can find the time and resources needed to thrive. Benefits and the mission are still top notch.
Cons
Some of the dead wood remain. It takes time to change responsibly. There's lack of adventure and accountability in certain areas and levels. It takes focus, determination, and creativity to navigate around the out-going establishment, although this won't last much longer. Straight talk can be frowned upon.
Advice to Management
Continue to listen to staff, investigate in to what's being said and take action, support the promising and contributing staff, ensure the work load is appropriately distributed based upon work level and best management practices, and nurture the risk-taking mentality as promised.
Consumer Reports 2017-02-17 05:41 PST -
-
Helpful (12)
![Consumer Reports Logo]()
"Sliding Culture"
Star Star Star Star Star- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEOI have been working at Consumer Reports (More than 10 years)
Pros
Really nice commute from Westchester.
Cons
One strange thing we keep seeing is that for every negative or slightly negative review here, a positive review gets posted addressing specific negative comments. This is clearly CR HR replying and trying to address anything negative. This is a strange practice and is really dubious on Consumer Report's part. Can't they just let honest negative reviews be, this is a sign of an insecure organization.
The fact is that the organization has gotten worse the last few years and there have been around three distinct changes in upper management over the last five years, this is a fact. There has also been a huge shift in the level right below VP and CEO, Director and Senior Manager. This has caused huge negative impact on the culture.
The bottomline is that CR isn't the great place to work that it used to be and the current HR and Executive team is trying to hide behind things like: change, digital transformation, brand re-positioning, etc. And the fact is that the very best organization do this stuff without mass lay-offs, scare tactics, and monumental shift in core culture. At the end of the day, CR isn't a good place to work and every prospective employee should know that and the fact that revenue us sliding as well. Period.Advice to Management
Be honest. Stop trying to micro-manage and control opinions and truth in glassdoor.
Consumer Reports 2017-03-21 06:35 PDT -
-
Helpful (1)
![Consumer Reports Logo]()
"Don't believe the negative reviews"
Star Star Star Star Star- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Consumer Reports full-time (More than 10 years)
Pros
As with many other companies in the publishing industry, Consumer Reports is transitioning from print to web-based. Change is hard but the current leadership has brought in highly-qualified individuals to steer the ship and things seem to be on course. CR is a non-profit and donations are up substantially along with digital subscriptions and the recent re-branding initiative was widely celebrated.
Change is difficult and can be unnerving but it is crucial in order for the organization to survive.
There is a small subset of longer-tenured employees who are arrogant enough to think that they have all the answers and anyone who disagrees with them is the enemy. HR has not written the most recent positive reviews as claimed, they were in fact, written by union members of which I am one.
CR is a wonderful organization with a mission to inform and protect consumers. The staff is highly valued and well compensated with salary, exemplary benefits and working conditions.
The aforementioned buyout was voluntary and the most generous in CR's history - 3 weeks' pay for every year of service along with three pensions, a 401K and other benefits. Many left CR with hundreds of thousands of dollars in severance and benefits - some might call that a bonanza, not a hardship and it's likely some have posted negative reviews while crying all the way to the bank.
The buyout was voluntary but the departure of many has been celebrated as cleaning house and ridding the organization of dead wood; frankly it's too bad a few more didn't go.
A small group of agitators seem to think they have a following but they don't. They have consistently presented themselves as the glue that holds the organization together but they are nothing of the sort, in fact most are under-performers. Shouldn't one professing to be a writer vet their comments for grammar and usage prior to posting?
In years past, accountability was sorely lacking allowing underachievers to maintain their employment while being shuffled between departments and negatively impacting morale The current management has begun to address and rectify that but some can't handle being held accountable. If you do your job ably, as the overwhelming majority of employees do, you have nothing to fear.
It's an exciting time to be part of the digital transformation of the storied institution.Cons
Internal communication could be better. Senior Leadership needs to better engage the staff and internal development needs improving.
Advice to Management
Don't believe the rabblerousers. The vast majority of the staff is behind you and supports the direction in which you are taking the organization.
Consumer Reports 2017-02-13 04:26 PST -
-
Helpful (8)
![Consumer Reports Logo]()
"Just Joined"
Star Star Star Star Star- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEOI have been working at Consumer Reports full-time (More than a year)
Pros
Love the idea of working for a mission based company.
Cons
Shocked to discover how many shift in strategy and senior management there has been in the last 5 years, I should have asked during interviews. Culture is way diffferent than the stuff I heard during interviews with HR and my manager; it's as though there are two CR's - the one HR and management want to fabricate and the real which seems not to really care for employees and overall health of company.
I took a huge paycheck to come to a mission based company, it may have been a mistake and I'm hearing the same from both long term and other new employeesAdvice to Management
be truthful during interviews and have a solid turn around plan
Consumer Reports 2017-03-12 14:17 PDT -
Join the Consumer Reports team
Showing 104 of 114 reviews
Reset Filters This will replace the current featured review for targeted profile. Are you sure you want to replace it?
Are you sure you want to remove this review from being featured for targeted profile?
Consumer Reports Response
seconds ago
Edit • Delete