Williams-Sonoma, Inc. Employee Reviews about "work life balance"

Cons

-Elitism -Classism -Lack of work life balance (better than most bay area jobs though) -Favoritism in Leadership

Cons

A loss of culture and no work life balance.

Cons

Company is out dated. Perks are minimal compared to other companies in the area. Very political. Lots of turn over.

Cons

The culture in this place is absolutely TOXIC. Management from top down is what drives the toxicity here. VP's, Directors, HR and Departmental Managers are all involved with this. The toxicity comes from all angles of management. There are a few good managers who genuinely try their best to make a difference and fight against the toxic culture. You can equate their efforts however, to the likes of trying to paddle to shore on a rubber raft full of holes filled with concrete, without any oars and in the middle of a ocean with 50 foot seas. Good luck! Management make a ton of promises and fail to execute on them often. Promises are sometimes made as bait too. They use these promises to get people to do what they want and never have the intention of fulfilling them. Be wary of getting on the bad side of management. There is a legitimate list which is referred to as the knucklehead list that upper management (VP's and Directors) use to single out associates they want to part ways with. A work life balance is non existent here. Salary staff often work 60 and 70+ hours a week and are ridiculed for taking time off. Even though you've worked well over 40 hours, you are still required to use PTO or sick time if you need to leave early for a Doctors appointment. You can also bet that you will be contacted while you're off. Both Sutter Street East and Sutter Street East 2 are always behind schedule which drive the poor work life balance. This is due to multiple issues like, but not limited to: 1. The willingness of senior management to agree to produce product at any cost and without regard to the facility and operational preparedness. 2. Zero structure and poor layout designs that impede product flow instead of promoting it. 3. The 'just get it done' mentality. Time studies are nonexistent when process changes are made, instead significant process or procedure changes are made without regard to potential impacts and the associates are often left having to jump through hoops to execute on deadlines and they often fail. 4. A disgruntled workforce equals a don't care attitude, which equals poor performance and poor performance equals being behind on schedules. All of the above ties into the toxic environment that is Williams Sonoma's Sutter Street Manufacturing East plants and is produced by the poor and nonexistent leadership.

Cons

Lack of work/life balance - often working overtime to get things done. Lack of planning by managers to do things correctly the first time around.

Cons

Recent layoffs and reduction by attrition are taking a toll on work/life balance.

Cons

Overworked with no employee incentives. Long hours so work/life balance is terrible.

Cons

Work life and personal life balance.

Cons

Still very corporate which makes project completion a bit hectic at times since there are a lot of departments to go through to get consensus. Need to be able to adjust to project changing in the last minute which can make things more stressful

Cons

Few people to work with and lots of pressure sometimes.