Not the place for someone that wants to 'set the world on fire' - Software Engineer Garmin Employee Review

3.0
Aug 22, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Laid back dress code, pretty good health insurance and great 401k match, not micromanaged at all, teams that I'm aware of use modern tools (outside of aviation). There are a lot of good people at Garmin, and everyone is very approachable. If you want a job that you can work no more than 40 hours every week if you want, have kids and want to send them to decent public schools, and keep chugging comfortably along toward retirement, Garmin is definitely the place for you.

Cons

When I was hired, I was given the impression that Garmin has an innovative culture that encourages creativity. This couldn't be further from the truth. I don't know if it's the sleepy conservative midwest culture that Kansas breeds, but there is just no drive or investment from anyone to be innovative and cutting-edge in the products. As a result, always releasing products a day late and a dollar short. Management is too cheap, and in competitive segments cutting corners is not something that should be done if you don't want the Silicon Valley companies completely eradicating your market share when they inevitably move into your niche strongholds. Complementing the sleepy midwest culture, the location of HQ is in Olathe, KS, which is a very far-flung suburb of KC. This location attracts a certain type of employee, and it isn't the type of employee you desperately need (the ones that are driven and really put their heart into their work). Olathe, KS (as opposed to KC proper or elsewhere) as a headquarters location will continue to drag down the talent pool you desperately need to remain relevant.

Explore other reviews about Garmin

5.0
Jun 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

They have a great culture.

Cons

I don't have cons to list.

3.0
Jul 1, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great, and I mean great benefits.

Cons

Poor local culture, everybody is in their own clicks and don't deviate from them. Not a huge amount of office friendliness. Not many team building exercises, and qa gets left out of alot. If you're not a developer, you will have a yard time socially. Coffee is the worst I've had at a company ever. Return to office was not handled right, and the wfh policies were written very vague by a local manager, but what they actually wanted was very specific and was not communicated at all(avg of 1 per month over the course of a year). This lead to a problem where I was denied a wfh request to grieve a dead pet because I used wfh 2 weeks earlier to register a new car ( that I got solely for work commute)

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