AlphaGraphics reviews

3.3

44% would recommend to a friend

(337 total reviews)

Paolo Fiorelli

78% approve of CEO

42% positive business outlook

AlphaGraphics has an employee rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars, based on 337 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The AlphaGraphics employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Manufacturing industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

337 reviews
1.0
Jun 3, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Free lunch on your birthday?

Cons

AlphaGraphics in the Cultural District is a franchise run by fear and intimidation. Simply having an opinion that differs from that of management will get you fired. Many promises are made upon hire that are outright lies. This is because management is astoundingly unprofessional, uneducated, inexperienced and LAZY. If you hate being micro-managed, this is NOT the place for you. Ownership is smug, elitist and completely out to lunch. In my time there, at least 9 employees were fired or quit. Most run screaming and the ones that just want to work hard and try to fit in end up taking any new blame that can be passed their way to cover up for (the many) management blunders. Why do most run screaming? No benefits and (hourly) pay is laughable, but it all adds up as long as you work 60 hours a week, right guys?

1.0
Feb 15, 2013

Avoid Working Here. Period.

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1. Have a good working environment among team members, despite below average wages. 2. Small warm close-knit, family-owned franchise (Pittsburgh branch), no room for career advancement however. 3. Great way for inexperienced fresh graduates to learn hands-on.

Cons

1. Workload issue, no proper traffic control. There will be times when the workload will be more than three people's job in one. Then performance will be affected and you will bear the responsibility. This is mostly because hiring new candidates takes a great deal of time, related to issue 2. below. 2. Very slow hiring process. Recruitment is done by their HQ in Salt Lake City, UT. After the initial screening it may take months before the local offices that the candidate wishes to be hired or even be contacted. A lot of bureaucracy involved. This affects building the existing team when previous ones resign. We lost a few good candidates this way. 3. Unprofessional manner of communication among staff, vendors and new hires. Most of the senior management are connected in some way to the owners. Those who are not, were hired fresh and were not given the proper foundation or experience as a professional company would. 4. Below average salary or wages, and mediocre benefits (if any). E.g. Graphic Designers aren't really valued. Benefits are primarily for the seniors management. 5. Poor support from HQ to local franchise owners.

1.0
Jun 18, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

My coworkers were all great team players and understanding. They made the job bearable.

Cons

Where do I even begin? The owner, Sam Hess has severe anger issues and often cusses out, shames, at snaps at the employees. He never owns up to his mistakes (which were plentiful) and never misses a chance to bring up anyone else mistakes (no matter how small the mistake may be). He and his wife/co-owner, Leslie would constantly fault the staff for "not following the procedure" when anything went wrong, but Sam constantly struggled to follow some of the most rudimentary and simple processes in place. They also managed to make themselves the victim in nearly every situation. Some how it would be my fault that they never responded to a client's email from a week prior. Sam also threatens to fire employees in front of other employees. Once, an employee (who didn't have a record of being late to work) was late due to weather conditions. During the morning meeting Sam told everyone that he has fired employees in the past for being late and not informing him prior as to why. This was clearly in reference to the employee who was late that day, and at the time was their longest standing employee. Not to mention that the employee DID in fact text Sam and Leslie saying they would be late that day. Leslie texted them back telling them to not even bother coming in. Sam has also fired employees in front of other staff members before. They have terrible turnover rate for employees. Within the past year, 4 employees have been hired and quit and 2 have been fired. When I started, the longest standing employee had worked there not even a year. I can say with certainty that the abysmal ownership is the primary reason for employees' resignation. Sam and Leslie have unreachable expectations. They provided no training to the staff and expect them to know how to do everything (even things they can't do themselves). Sam doesn't even know how some of the most basic features in Print Speak work. He often wrote job tickets incorrectly, leading to confusion among the staff. On more than one occasion, we were told that it was OUR fault for not knowing that Sam or Leslie wrote up the ticket wrong, which resulted in the wrong thing being printed. They also take on last minute rush orders that are unachievable in the time given due to the amount needed, or bindery and finishing needed, and would expect them to get done without a hitch. They couldn't fathom how a single thing could go wrong, so when it did we all were chewed out. This work environment is toxic. I witness many tears from coworkers at work. I dreaded work everyday because no matter how well I the team worked, we got shamed and berated. They treat the employees with NO respect.

Viewing 7 - 9 of 337 Reviews

Glassdoor has 427 AlphaGraphics reviews submitted anonymously by AlphaGraphics employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if AlphaGraphics is right for you.