Costco Wholesale reviews

3.9

74% would recommend to a friend

(18,708 total reviews)
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Ron Vachris

77% approve of CEO

70% positive business outlook

Costco Wholesale has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 18,708 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Costco Wholesale employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

19K reviews
4.0
Jun 12, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

One of the many reasons to work for Costco Wholesale is by far the benefits package and the hourly wage/salary. Wall Street has complained and dinged Jim Sinegal in the past but this company takes care of it's employees and the employees in turn care about this great company. I've had a few jobs throughout my lifetime and I can honestly say that I truly enjoy working at Costco and look forward to waking up each morning and going to work. The people that I work with whether it be hourly employees or members of management all have them same attitude and outlook towards the company and their respective careers.

Cons

In my opinion the only downside I see of working at Costco Wholesale is the attitude our members have with employees. A lot of our members have the attitude that they own Costco due to the fact that they have a membership and they can talk to or treat the employees like dirt. The Executive Members are by far the worst. People need to understand that whether or not you pay a membership fee to shop at a store or not, it's a matter of human dignity, and no one deserves to be treated a particular way. I believe that management senior management either has lost focus or touch with this side of the business and that it affects the morale of the employees.

2.0
Jun 11, 2008

No training and lack of respect.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The pay and benefits. That's it. Otherwise it's no different from any other crappy retail job.

Cons

No: training, communication, encouragement. Training is not just minimal, it barely exists. Somebody here needs to read a couple management books. Good training and reviewing that training periodically is the only route to quality employees. It also seems like they don't want to tell you your full job description so they can make you do whatever they want, whenever they want. Management just automatically assumes you're doing something wrong and never says a thing when you do something right. Various "decisions" are made by the top brass on a whim with no real thought behind it and are often changed behind their back anyway. Nobody ever knows what is going on and why. All their activities seem focused around putting out the various fires instead of planning ahead. They also constantly make new rules which fail to be enforced within a few days.

4.0
Jun 10, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Costco provides a good working environment with excellent benefits (for the industry). The company is led by a "man of the people" who makes obeying the law, taking care of the members (consumer), and taking care of employees an effective way to reward shareholders. The quality of product we sell is quite high which means that I don't have to deal with irate members often. The price is also fair (besides luxury goods the highest profit % is 14%). The employees are taken care of well by industry standards and there are many long term employees as a result. Sinegal is a fierce warrior on our behalf, spurning Wall Street in defense of his values. Lots of room to promote as the company is solid even in these troubled financial times and looking to expand.

Cons

Communication is poor in general. This company has many levels of management but "office" work is nearly universally looked down upon in the warehouses. Lots of discretion the actual operation of each individual warehouse is left up to the location manager so company wide standards are vague and subject to interpretation (this can be beneficial at times as well). Hours are odd due to the retail environment. Being a member of the service industry has many downsides as well when dealing with difficult or upset individuals.

Viewing 18706 - 18708 of 18,708 Reviews

Glassdoor has 20,569 Costco Wholesale reviews submitted anonymously by Costco Wholesale employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Costco Wholesale is right for you.