Cotopaxi reviews

Obsessed with Cutting Costs: Leadership seems focused on short-term savings at the expense of long-term health. Budgets are slashed, experienced people are laid off, and important work is pushed outside the company, leaving teams weaker and stretched thin. The ironic thing is that so much work is being contracted, out because good employees have quit or been pushed out, that I have no doubt it is actually increasing costs for the business. Fear Driven Culture: Exceptional employees are often worried about saying the wrong thing or making a mistake. Every decision has to be run through the leadership team. It absolutely paralyzes employees and gives them no sense of trust or empowerment from the leadership team. Out of Touch Leadership: The executive team feels like a revolving door of outsiders brought in to cut costs, not grow the business. They don’t really understand the industry, they do not care about the employees, and don’t offer any intelligent plan for the future. Speaking up whether to a manager or HR is pretty much ignored, or discouraged. The leadership team constantly praises one another, while the average employee is ignored and given little to no appreciation for their work. Real transparency is missing: Decisions happen behind closed doors, and town halls are full of buzzwords but short on real answers. Employee feedback seems to fall completely on deaf ears, and good ideas from within the company are generally squashed. Burnout and Turnover Are the Norm: Good people are leaving fast. Those who stay are overloaded, underappreciated, and clearly burned out. The leadership team seems more interested in giving themselves raises and spending extravagantly on themselves than investing in the incredibly talented employees they have.

Ironically, this self-proclaimed “people-first” company is the most toxic place I’ve ever worked. Highly qualified and talented people are leaving in droves, some even without new jobs lined up because it’s just that bad. People would literally rather be unemployed than work at Cotopaxi. Leadership has also repeatedly try to silence people when they’re leaving to make it look like they’re being pushed out, rather than leaving because things are so miserable. Additionally, cost of benefits have skyrocketed with no cost of living adjustments, “In The Wild Time” has been cut, summer Fridays have been cut, and bucket list trip stipends (after 18 mo. & 5 years) have been cut—all of the things that were supposed to counterbalance non-competitive pay (compared to other industries) are gone. The CEO also recently announced the promotion an SVP to C-suite position (after being at Cotopaxi for less than a year while others have had to fight endlessly for much deserved promotions) on the exact same day that everyone else was sent into a panic because benefits skyrocketed, which was beyond inconsiderate and tone-deaf. On top of it all, leadership still seems completely oblivious to how unhappy everyone is, and they’re fully convinced that they’re not the problem, even when they’re the root of it all.