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      Hot Topic

      Engaged Employer

      Hot Topic reviews

      3.4

      57% would recommend to a friend

      (2,492 total reviews)
      avatar

      Steve Vranes

      50% approve of CEO

      36% positive business outlook

      Ratings by category

      4.2

      Diversity & inclusion

      3.8

      Culture & values

      3.2

      Work/Life balance

      3.0

      Senior management

      2.8

      Career opportunities

      2.7

      Compensation and benefits

      Hot Topic has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 2,492 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Hot Topic employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Reviews by job title

      2K reviews
      2.0
      Jul 4, 2026

      Not worth your time or effort

      Sales associate
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Some coworkers are cool. Employee discount is a nice bonus considering how overpriced a lot of the stuff is. Dress code is pretty chill.

      Cons

      Basically the managers from hell. Barely train you but then get annoyed when you don’t know something and ask for their help. There’s a high school mean girl vibe among them towards sales associates as well. They would make fun of customers who were upset behind their backs as well as coworkers they didn’t like openly in front of other employees. Rewards member signups are pushed way too hard and if you do not get a customer to successfully sign up it will be held against you. Pay is way too low to put up with this.

      1.0
      Jun 30, 2026

      Stressful environment and high demands

      Store manager
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Nothing but stress and underpaid

      Cons

      Expect you to do sooo much. Shipment entering numbers coaching on the floor helping customers doing surveys looking people up on iPad even tho they don’t want to. Products is crap . Corporate is crap.

      4.0
      Jun 28, 2026

      Flexible management but poor district oversight and hours

      Sales associate
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Unstressful by retail standards, with mostly flexible and understanding managers.

      Cons

      District manager quality was poor. Poor hours. Opportunities for growth are not based on existing experience.

      Viewing 1 - 3 of 2,492 Reviews
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      ReviewsHot Topic reviews

      Glassdoor has 2,571 Hot Topic reviews submitted anonymously by Hot Topic employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Hot Topic is right for you.